Where is Japan’s Machine Tool Industry Located?
Using Employment Data When Production Figures are Suppressed
In an ideal world, B2B marketers could use 4-digit industry codes to determine in-country differences in production output. For example, you could access economic census data to locate manufacturing centers for metal cutting machine tools [1]. However, where there are less than three manufacturers in a given statistical area, governments will conceal production data to prevent competitors from ascertaining a specific manufacturer’s output. One workaround would be to proportionately allocate the difference between sub-national and national production value for that 4-digit industry code. Another approach is to use employment data, which is less likely to be suppressed at the sub-national level.
The Interactive Map
Continuing with the example introduced above, the interactive map of Japan shows the distribution by prefecture (state) of employees producing metal cutting machine tools, metal forming machine tools [2], and machine tool parts and accessories. The map of Japan does not include Okinawa [3].
Aichi is Japan’s center of car production. It is also where many machine tool manufacturers and suppliers of machine tool parts and accessories are located. For example, Aichi accounts for 26.3 percent of the workforce in metal cutting machine tools. It also has the largest workforce in the metal forming machine tool industry with 14.2 percent of the national total, and 15.9 percent of the national total for machine tool parts and accessories manufacturing.
Aichi’s exceptionally large presence in metal cutting machine tool manufacturing (3.9 times larger than the runner up, Mie Prefecture) reduces visual contrast among the remaining prefectures. The color-coded (choropleth) map addresses this issue by using a HIDE button to remove Aichi’s data from the dataset. Removal of the outlier triples visual contrast in the map of metal cutting machine tool manufacturing and doubles contrast for the map of machine tool parts and accessories manufacturing. There is no change in visual contrast for metal forming machine tools as there is little difference between Aichi (14.2%) and the second largest prefecture, Osaka (12.5%).
Conclusion
Use of regional industry employment data may help visualize sales potential, especially in overseas markets where market information is somewhat limited. In the case of the Japan’s machine tool manufacturing industry, the geographical distribution of sales persons would vary depending on whether the target was metal cutting machine tool manufacturers, metal forming machine tool manufacturers, or machine tool parts and accessories manufacturers.
Economic censuses are conducted in many countries every five years. In some cases, data may even be more granular than in Japan. A good place to start exploring is the US Census Bureau which uses NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes and the European Union which uses NACE (Nomenclature des Activités Économiques dans la Communauté Européenne) codes.
Footnotes:
- Metal forming machine tools is 2661 in the Japan Standard Industrial Classification (JSIC).
- Metal forming machine tools is used as a term of convenience chosen deliberately to contrast with metal cutting machine tools. A more common term is metal forming machinery.
- Okinawa is Japan’s 47th prefecture. The majority of the population live on the main island of the Okinawa Archipelago approximately 600 kilometers from mainland Japan.