How a four-person Japanese metal printer reached Thai department stores

International business story | Ikegami Metal Printing is an 87-year-old Saitama maker with only four employees, including its president and factory manager. It printed tins for sweets and tea, then responded to shrinking domestic demand by developing original products and overseas channels. The shift began with an existing manufacturing strength, not a large export department.

With no export experience, the company started by making English business cards, joined THAIFEX and learned trade operations. The useful lesson is to break exporting into small deliverables: a company introduction, a focused sample set, a buyer list and a record of questions that reveals which documents and logistics knowledge are missing.

Its display goods failed to arrive at the fair, yet the team used samples in hand and visited listed companies one by one. Most meetings did not produce results, and the interested department store required a Thai agent or base. Attendance alone was not a sale; backup samples and a clear importer and service role mattered.

An expert network introduced a Thailand-based company that became the agent. That completed the sales structure, enabling a Japan-fair promotion and later a permanent department-store corner. The turning point was solving the buyer’s local-channel constraint rather than simply changing the price.

Ikegami combined Thai Benjarong motifs with its metal-printing skill. According to the company, an influencer’s store post led to an additional order, cumulative orders exceeded the original forecast and orders continue. This is a company-reported order result, not profit or a guarantee. A practical next step is one culturally reviewed sample built on one defensible production strength.

Sources

• 輸出経験ゼロの町工場がタイ市場を開拓 | 地域・分析レポート - 海外ビジネス情報 - ジェトロ

Some images in this article are generated illustrations.