Castem has started an official note! [What kind of business is Castem?]
Nice to meet you! We are Castem Co., Ltd.
We are a precision metal parts manufacturer headquartered in Fukuyama City, in the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture, a "town of manufacturing."
We have just launched our official corporate note!
What kind of company is Castem?
First, let us briefly introduce ourselves.
A precision metal parts manufacturer with 55 years of history
Core business is the manufacturing and sales of precision metal parts using lost-wax precision casting and MIM (Metal Injection Molding)
Top-class domestic market share for lost-wax products in general industrial fields
President Takuo Toda is a Guinness World Record holder for origami airplane flight time (29.2 seconds)
In recent years, we have been focusing on the "Digital Cast" manufacturing method, a new casting technology using 3D printers
Factories and bases in the Philippines, Thailand, Colombia, and the USA. A new factory in Vietnam started operations this year
A huge hit! The Monster Ball insect cage series has surpassed 500,000 units sold in total!
Number 1 in domestic production of cast Robin Mask (Kinnikuman) figures!!
Number 1 in domestic production of metal bananas!!!
We produce tomatoes in Miyakojima, Okinawa, and strawberries in Jinsekikogen Town, next to Fukuyama City (real ones)
The food in our cafeteria is very, very delicious
....!!!!????
Aren't there some things mixed in that don't seem like a parts manufacturer!?
(The president has a Guinness record!!??)
You might be confused by the sheer amount of information (lol).
I hope to introduce you to our unique hit products and businesses, our company's eventful history,
and the secret story behind how our president set a Guinness World Record at a later date.
So... what kind of company is Castem, anyway?
We were founded 55 years ago in 1970. Our first president, Chairman Shozo Toda, started our casting manufacturing business by hand-making machine tools.
Since then, we have built upon a philosophy of going "half a step further" without being satisfied with the status quo for the sake of our customers, developing lost-wax precision casting and Metal Injection Molding (MIM) technology, for which we independently obtained a U.S. patent in 1991.
Now, we have also begun a new challenge: casting x 3D printing.
(For details, please refer to the Castem Co., Ltd. website (https://www.castem.co.jp/).
Furthermore, we are working on new businesses. Development of medical and beauty products, agriculture, Monster Ball insect cages, metal bananas, and Kinnikuman's Robin Mask and Fullmetal Alchemist's "Al's Armor"...
As a result of launching various new businesses with a "zero-to-one" mindset, creating something from nothing without being bound by the framework of "castings"...
"What kind of company is Castem...?"
We have started to be asked that (ToT).
(Um... we are a casting company.)
It is no wonder we are asked that.
The world is in the age of the SNS warring states period.
It is an era where official corporate accounts compete, sometimes exchange greetings, report local weather, and work hand-in-hand to disseminate information to acquire customers.is.
Our business managers are no exception, and as a result of each manager working hard to promote the appeal of our products, company, and business... (please scroll horizontally)
キャステム公式Ｘ、インスタグラム、フェイスブック、ユーチューブ、アイアンファクトリーのＸ・インスタグラム・フェイスブック・ユーチューブ、TikTok、IRON FACTORY IKEDA（池田部長）のＸ、沖縄県宮古島のパ二パ二ファームのインスタグラム、神石イチゴファームのフェイスブック、インスタグラム・Ｘ、キャステム食堂のインスタグラム・Ｘ、金属雑貨・ワークショップの店「meta mate」のインスタグラム・Ｘ、フェイスブック、note、ジュエリーブランドＫＯＨＫＯＨのインスタグラム、海外向けのキャステムグローバルのインスタグラム、折り紙ヒコーキ協会のインスタグラム・フェイスブック、ユーチューブ、紙ヒコーキ博物館インスタグラム…
The number is a total of 26 accounts. Since we have 335 employees, that calculates to roughly
one account for every 13 people.
They are so diverse that even our official website cannot introduce them all.
Oh!! The president and executive director also have Facebook pages.That makes 28 in total lol
With so many accounts already, why start a note?
So, why start a new note?
"You already have so many social media accounts! That's enough!"
...I feel like I can hear voices from both inside and outside the company saying that (laughs).
As I mentioned earlier, our company is a lost-wax casting company with a 55-year history. While being involved in the manufacturing of precision metal parts for over half a century, mainly in the general industrial sector, we have witnessed the withdrawal of many competitors.
The number of precision casting companies, which was 101 in 1989, decreased to
26 companies in 2021, a reduction to approximately one-fourth of the original number. Even in the most recent 10 years from 2014 to 2024, sales of precision castings (for general machinery) have decreased by 1.606 billion yen (26.77%), and production volume has decreased by 533.66 tons (52.32%).
In the last 10 years, production volume has halved, and sales have shrunk significantly. We are in a very difficult situation.
A tough industry. The comrades in manufacturing who overcame it
Each company in the casting industry that has survived to this day, including our own, has managed to overcome the difficult situation of the industry as a whole, as well as the Lehman Shock and the COVID-19 pandemic, through ingenuity.
While each company is a rival, they are also so to speak, comrades who have supported Japan as a manufacturing powerhouse since the period of high economic growth.
We want to share the potential and appeal of castings and the casting industry.
We want to convey the joy of manufacturing.
We want to introduce the unique employees and initiatives at Castem, a manufacturing company.
We started this note with those thoughts in mind.
Castings might actually be pretty cool.
Manufacturing is fun!
Our goal is to increase the number of people who feel that way, even if it's just one person.
For the time being, in addition to introducing Castem's unique business,
we will continue to provide news information related to castings as needed.
Thank you very much for reading this far.
See you in the next post!