An Interview with Jack Murota, our CEO

OFS' Specialty Photonics Division became part of $7 Billion Furukawa Electric Company (FEC) in 2003. FEC, with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, expanded its telecommunications business globally by purchasing OFS, with its corporate headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, and its Specialty Photonics Division in Avon, Connecticut. Recently, The FiberWire sat down with Katsuhiko (Jack) Murota (who chose his American name based on his admiration of Jack Kennedy). We asked Mr. Murota to provide his perspective on several key topics, the first of which was “What is OFS doing to enhance customer satisfaction?” Here’s what Mr. Murota had to say.

“I have placed customer satisfaction at the top of our list of things we must achieve. Each customer has different needs and requirements, and our products are not uniform products,” says Mr. Murota. His statement applies particularly to the Specialty business where we offer thousands of products to dozens of different markets and hundreds of different applications. Understanding the application needs of our customers in great detail is one way we maximize our service to each customer. Mr. Murota adds, “Our value proposition is to support customers by proposing ideas and solutions with leading-edge technologies and delivering customized, reliable products. There is no miracle that can enhance customer satisfaction. Keeping talented R&D and product management teams, and letting them meet with customers as much as possible to understand customers’ needs … that’s what OFS is doing, not to mention that delivering what customers exactly ordered on time is essential.”

A topic on the minds of many customers since the purchase from Lucent Technologies involves the cultural differences with our Japan-based parent. “What about this perceived difference between the business cultures of the United States and Japan?” “I don’t see any major differences,” suggests Mr. Murota, “Of course, a way to approach problem solving or a way to analyze issues is sometimes different, but it’s trivial.” We may take different approaches to the business challenges we face everyday, but the end result will always come out in support of the customer. “One of our combined strengths is that we understand customer requirements. Both Japan and the USA are leading countries in the fiber optic business, and customers in both countries are very much interested in acquiring leading-edge technologies. We can localize these technologies and this know-how everywhere in the world.”

Along the lines of regional application of global technologies, we asked “What is OFS doing in support of understanding new trends and serving emerging markets, such as Fiber to the Home (and FTTx)?” “Key words are ‘Easy to Install,’ ‘Easy to Use,’ and ‘Robust Enough,’” says Mr. Murota, “and OFS’s FTTx team has been making tremendous efforts to incorporate these concepts into a series of new products over a two-year period. We have introduced the Orbital™ Cabinet, a splitter cabinet equipped with ruggedized splitters and a patented design, which is also ‘easy to upgrade.’ This and AllWave^® FLEX, the first bend-insensitive Zero Water Peak fiber, will be our key FTTx products.” Regarding trends in that segment, Mr. Murota sites Europe. “We see early movement of FTTx in some areas of Europe, and we have acquired key persons from a small company that had been dedicated to FTTx in Europe.” In other emerging markets, “we are building stronger global marketing teams and encouraging greater interaction with engineering early in the process of new product analysis and development. We have been successful in using a team approach working closely with our customers. Our marketing associates have been increasingly focused on better understanding emerging applications such as fiber in automobiles, as well as varied specialty applications. Of course, we also have the expertise from OFS Laboratories which helps us understand technology evolution and incorporate the correct technology in our products. It is a very rewarding cycle to see some of the leading-edge technologies emerge in the marketplace as new products.”

Lastly, Mr. Murota was asked to comment on a strategic issue, “In an increasingly global and complex marketplace, how does OFS differentiate itself versus other large competitors?” “It begins and ends with the customer. We operate worldwide, but our business divisions who are focused on particular markets or applications are encouraged to work together, collaborating in the best interests of the customer. We have a tremendous base of talent globally. It’s this team of talented people that help put together a complex blend that creates truly informed solutions: market and application understanding, product development, research in our laboratories, and the individual experience our customers have developed in their own industries,” says Mr. Murota. Our technological leadership also plays an important role in how we stand out from competitors in our customers’ eyes. Mr. Murota points to some of our stand-out and historical firsts, “We introduced the first Non-Zero Dispersion Fiber in 1993, the first Low Water Peak Fiber in 1998, and the first 10-gigabyte-optimized multimode fiber in 2000” as well as the AllWave FLEX Fiber mentioned earlier, which “has the potential to change the world of FTTx in the United States. Delivering new technologies that will change people’s lives in the future, that is OFS’s mission.” The end result is solutions our customers can rely on today, tomorrow, 5 and 20 years from now, and for which they will continue to turn to us.

Mr. Murota was appointed CEO of OFS in December, 2005. He has been associated with OFS since 2004 at a board level and has been with FEC since 1974. He has been getting to know OFS in increasing detail and we have been getting to know his management approach. His style is one of engaging and challenging the business units to excel, and he has been quite successful over a short period of time, with financial results trending steadily upwards. Jack Murota is not one to sit back and smile at that. His reply when asked about supporting increasing customer needs? “As business expands, we are investing wisely in additional capacity, engineering support of our processes, and improved information technology.” Mr. Murota is excited about guiding a talented OFS team to become an even stronger global competitor in the world of fiber optics.