Hello everyone and welcome to this very special conversation. Today, we are going beyond specifications, beyond product launches, and into the very soul of Sigma. We are honored to have with us today Mr. Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma Corporation, Japan. A leader known not only for engineering excellence, but for a deeply human philosophy that shapes the company's culture and products. Welcome to Malaysia, Mr. Yamaki.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much for having me.
Welcome back. Joining us today are two very special individuals who needs no further introduction. Mr. Steve Chong, Sigma ambassador for Malaysia. Ming Thet, former photographer, designer, longtime industry observer. Appropriate?
So, both of them have prepared thoughtful questions, and my role is to guide this conversation so we can explore Sigma's philosophy, craft, and its future. Yamaki-san, I would like to begin with the human side of Sigma. Okay. The values, the stories, and many photographers around the world may not know. So, Steve asked a question. I think this has probably been rephrased in many ways. Your father once told you that photography is a happy business.
Yes, because people take photos during their most joyful moments.
Now, how do you actually maintain that sense of joy inside a high-pressure manufacturing environment? It must be very, very challenging.
Yeah, because you told me on your left side is your sales, on your right side is your technical team. So, you know, it's a really high-pressure environment. But, as you know, everybody enjoy taking photos. Everybody enjoy photography, right? I believe this industry, the imaging industry, is strongly supported by the passion of the people in this industry. So, naturally, we can enjoy what we are doing in this industry and market. So, I just appreciate the power of photography or imaging because it's so passionate and meaningful for us. And also, we, especially Sigma, enjoy what we are doing. I mean, we never work on the project that does not excite us. So, we always pick up the one excite us, then we start the project. So, every time we start the project, all engineers, including me, are quite excited and thrilled. Maybe you share the same feeling when you build your own product, right? [laughter]
It's a very selfish business, right? We do the things we like, but if we do things other people like, then you make a product which is neither here nor there. So, I think at the end of the day it's better that for those of us who create tangible product, you have to be fully confident in what you make.
I think you agree with that.
Actually, yes. So, as a company, it's very important to make profit to survive. But, at the same time, I always tell all the people in the factory, the staff in the factory, that please make every single product to assume that this product may go to your son or go to your father-in-law, your close friend. If they believe so, they spend 100% of power to make the product to the best.
Okay, so I think the next question will be you have mentioned over the years that you literally grew up in the apartment above the Sigma office when you were young. Yeah. So, going to work means walking down the stairs.
So, is there a childhood memory, maybe a prototype stage or maybe a field experiment or something that sparked your curiosity about optics?
As you said, I lived on top of the office building and the grandpa was the factory. But we had that factory I think until mid-70s. So, at that time, I was still a small boy, small kid, like 7 or 8 years old. So, my memory is quite limited. But I had no idea which one is product or prototype, but I could see many components or parts or glass elements in the factory and that probably creates my interest in the camera and lenses at the time. But I mainly went downstairs in the weekend. Because while they are working there, I was not allowed to go into the deep office. So, normally, I went down stairs in the weekend. And I still remember on the South Pole, there was a small library which contains a lot of camera magazines, photo magazines from all over the world.
