株式会社三和スクリーン銘板

Our burning passion for manufacturing is something that has never changed since the company was founded. Throughout SANWA’s history we have continued to work on challenges with the consistent feeling of never giving up.

The parent company that formed SANWAHara Nameplate Factory

SANWA’s history overlaps the history of Hara Nameplate Factory, which is our parent company. Hara Nameplate Factory started by Hiroyoshi Hara, the father of Tsutomu Goto our company’s founder, began in 1939 as a company that manufactured nameplates listing such things as the performance and manufacturing company for aircraft machinery and motors. After World War II, the company shifted its focus to manufacturing nameplates for industrial machinery instead of aircraft while growing steadily as a company specializing in the manufacture of metal nameplates. Tsutomu Goto supported his older brother Hiromori Hara, who followed in his father’s footstep to become the company president, and contributed to grow the business through sales.

Inside the Hara Nameplate Factory circa 1960

Founding Period

Creating Opportunity from the Changing Times

In 1979, Tsutomu Goto established Sanwa Screen Co., Ltd. as a company that manufactures resin nameplates mainly using silk screen printing. Along with his wife Hideko and her younger brother Seiji Hayashi, Tsutomu Goto succeeded in working through the founding period, in which the company did not yet have any clear goals, to eventually start moving into the business of acrylic display panels for drinking water vending machines. Vending machines experienced explosive expansion through the years of booming postwar economic growth and development competition in the market intensified each year. SANWA was able to catch the waves to significantly extend its business performance.

Left: President Tsutomu Goto in the office　Center: Hideko at work　Right: Seiji Hayashi

Semi-automatic silk screen printer at the time

The very first ordered acrylic nameplate for drinking water vending machines
Display buttons for vending machines manufactured during the founding period

Growth Period

Expanding Our Business Area, From Home Appliances to Cars

After starting with display panels for vending machines, SANWA also started to produce resin nameplates for home appliances such as rice cookers, microwave ovens, and washing machines. The entire company came together to meet the demanding needs of our customers, and while doing so, its technical capability soundly grew. During the 1980s, the company entered the automotive industry and found success with hot stamp technology, which gives a metallic effect to the surface of resin material. This dramatically increased our sales in the area of automotive parts. We also received orders from a global AV equipment manufacturer, and the size of our business suddenly expanded. Our corporate culture, which boldly takes up the challenge of working on difficult projects that our competitors cannot handle, has become the driving force to gain customer trust and acquire new technology.

Top left: Car display panels　Top right: Instrument panel　Center right: Washing machine panel　Bottom: Audio display panels

1979	May	Split from Hara Nameplate Factory to became a company specializing in screen printing with a capital of 1 million Yen Five members of staff
1979	1979 Second Oil Crisis
1980	May	Saori Plant newly established Thompson machining started
	Jul.	Began producing automotive panels, roller stamp reverse-printing technology developed
	Dec.	Increase in capital to 4 million Yen
	1980 The number of produced Japanese passenger cars became the highest in the world
1982	Apr.	New factory constructed in Saori for facility expansion
1983	Feb.	Printing factory expanded
	Mar.	Opened a clean room for product quality to meet user requirements
	Apr.	Shizuoka Factory established and began production with 10 employees.
	1983 Tokyo Disney Land opens
1984	Jan.	Acquired Patent rights 1068900 ['Asahi' hot stamping].
1984	Nov.	Increase of capital to 10 million Yen. The then president Tsutomu Goto also became the president and CEO of Hara Nameplate Factory
1985	May	Installed laser cutting machinery and began making acrylic nameplates
	Aug.	Established the Sanwa Silk Printing Co. Ltd., and began painting and molding processing
	1986 to 1991 The Heisei boom, bubble economy
1987	Mar.	Installed automatic punching press as a cost-cutting measure
	May	New headquarters building completed with offices and the inspection center
	Sep.	Increase of capital to 20 million Yen
	1987 Launch of the first Japanese car equipped with airbag system 1989 Death of Emperor Showa, Heisei Era started with consumption tax revision (3%)
1990	Nov.	Completed construction of Headquarters’ South Building. (1F printing factory, 2F cafeteria)
1992	Mar.	Established the mold division at Sanwa Silk Printing Co., Ltd.
1993	Oct.	Sanwa Silk Printing Co. Ltd. was renamed Sanwa Plastic Industry Co., Ltd.

Development Period

Establishing a Brand with Our Core Technologies

While continuing to be proactive and take up the challenge of meeting difficult orders, SANWA brings together its technical capabilities developed to date, and starts working on a new method referred to as film insert molding. Film insert molding technology, which can support three dimensional shapes and of course flat shapes, is the result of a number of SANWA’s unique developments and has grown into our core technology. Later, we also established two-color molding, and this has significantly contributed towards company growth and strengthening our brand.

Top right: Rice cooker switch panel　Top left: Washing machine lid
Bottom left: Washing machine switch panel

Using Technical Capabilities Trusted Throughout the World

In 1994, 15 years after being founded, SANWA set up its first overseas site in Malaysia. This was around the time when Japanese companies started in succession to expand into Asia. Competitors in the same industry from both the Kanto and Kansai regions had already established their presence overseas, and this was a time of global expansion in anticipation of future development. We began business dealings with home appliance manufacturers and established a factory in Thailand after the one in Malaysia, where we also began business with automotive part manufacturers. After this, we continued to expand into China and the USA among other countries to expand our worldwide network. SANWA has continued to grow based on its reliably established technical capabilities through its consecutive use of new technologies. We will pass down our ambition for manufacturing to the next generation, an ambition that has remained unchanged since the company was first founded.

Staff working at the Malaysia factory (left is Vice-President Yoshihide Goto)
The Thailand factory as it is today
Washing machine and car panels for overseas
Aichi Quality Company Certificate

1994	Jun.	Began injection molding for film insert molding panels (installed in Hara Nameplate Factory for washing machine panels)
	Sep.	Established a factory in Malaysia (SANWA SCREEN (M) SDN. BHD.)
	1995 The Great Hanshin Earthquake 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack by Aum Shinrikyo
1997	Aug.	Started a cylinder press to increase printing capacity and cut cost
1997	1997年 Japan’s consumption tax raised to 5% 1997 World’s first mass produced hybrid vehicle “Prius” released US 9/11 terrorist attacks
2002	Jan.	Established Thailand factory (S.A PRECISION CO., LTD.)
2002	Aug.	Opened Kanto area office in Chiba prefecture. Yujin Engineering Co joined Sanwa Group Ltd.
2003	Aug.	Shizuoka Factory relocated to Fujieda for expansion
	Sep.	Capital increase to 30 million Yen
	Dec.	Established a factory in China [SANWA SCREEN (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.]
2004	Mar.	Aichi Quality Company Certificate (certification number 011)
	Apr.	ISO9001 Certification (Registration number: JSAQ1957).
	Dec.	Capital increase to 42 million Yen
2005	Jan.	Moved Yujin Engineering Co., Ltd., to Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture
	May.	ISO14001 Certification (Registration number: JSAE1081).
	Jul.	Opened Osaka sales office
	Nov.	Mino Factory newly built
	2005 Chubu Centrair International Airport opens
2007	Jul.	Opened Chicago branch, USA (SANWA SCREEN USA Corp.)
	Oct.	Expanded Mino Factory.
	2008 Toyota Motor Corporation overtakes GM in global production 2008 Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
2010	Apr.	Relocated Osaka Sales Office to Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture.
2010	Jul.	Sanwa Plastic Industrial Co. was renamed Plastic Advanced (PLAVANCE) Co., Ltd.
2011	May	Sanwa Screen CO., LTD. Second Factory completed. Operations started
2011	2011 Great East Japan Earthquake
2012	Feb.	Established Indonesia plant (PT. SANWA SCREEN INDONESIA)
2014	Mar.	Change of management. Mr. Tsutomu Goto became the chairman and Mr. Eiichiro Goto appointed as the president and CEO
	Aug.	Established Mexico Plant (SANWA SCREEN MEXICO S.A. DE C.V.)
	Sep.	Yujin Engineering Co. was taken over and became Chiba Factory.
	2014 Japan’s consumption tax raised to 8%
2015	Jun.	Sanwa Screen CO., LTD. Third Factory completed. Operations started
2016	Jan.	HARA NAMEPLATE CO., LTD. Kanto Factory completed. Operations started
2017	Jan.	Started two-color molding production line at Higashikawa Factory, Plastic Advanced (PLAVANCE) Co., Ltd.
2018	Jul.	Introduced new film insert molding robots at Shizuoka Factory, Sanwa Screen Co., Ltd.
2019	Dec.	Completed New Aisai Factory, Plastic Advanced (PLAVANCE) Co., Ltd.
2019	2019 Japan’s consumption tax raised to 10%
2020	April.	Declaration of a State of Emergency for the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) announced in all 47 prefectures throughout Japan.
2022	October.	FESP adopted.
2023	October.	FESP mass production commenced.

SANWA’s History