About Mitsubishi Electric Factory AutomationThe Road to Automating the WorldInterviews with People Involved in the Factory Automation Systems Business
Providing One-of-a-Kind FA Solutions Tailored to the Culture and Environment of Each Production SiteKensuke Tokunaga
Value Creation Grp., FA Serendie Marketing Dept.
FA Serendie Business Development Center
Joined Mitsubishi Electric in 2014.
2026-06
Mitsubishi Electric’s FA systems business aims to enable employees to fully demonstrate their ideas, technologies, and beliefs to achieve the common goal of “Automating the World.”
Through the “Road to Automating the World” series, we share their authentic voices from around the world.
This article features an interview with Kensuke Tokunaga, who is involved in launching new FA digital services and handles business development and sales support for SaaS businesses in the manufacturing industry.
Bringing Together the Perspectives of Both Customers and the Development Team
── How did you come to join Mitsubishi Electric?
Tokunaga:While studying management and economics at university, I became interested in the manufacturing industry, which is the backbone of Japanese industry. What drew me to Mitsubishi Electric was its broad product lineup and the fact that it provides solutions in a wide range of fields, from social infrastructure to factories, with its influence extending not only across Japan but also into global markets. I remember feeling excited at the thought that this was a company where I could apply the marketing and management perspectives I had learned to contribute to the further development of Japanese manufacturing.
── Please tell us about your current responsibilities and mission.
Tokunaga:For the first ten years after joining Mitsubishi Electric, I was involved in the marketing of energy-saving support equipment in the factory sales department at Fukuyama Works in Hiroshima Prefecture. In 2024, I was transferred to the predecessor of what is now the FA Serendie Business Development Center. I am currently focused on launching FA digital solution businesses, as well as on business development and sales support for manufacturing SaaS solutions such as smart maintenance and remote maintenance services. I am also responsible for joint proposals that combine SaaS with solution software, including the SCADA software “GENESIS™” and the 3D simulator “MELSOFT Gemini.” More specifically, my role is to identify challenges at manufacturing sites through joint sales visits with branch offices and distributors and share those insights back to the strategy planning team, marketing team, and development team. I also work to explore and build processes to clearly communicate how our new solutions can effectively address customers’ challenges.
── To fulfill those responsibilities, is there anything specific you are trying to do?
Tokunaga:I would like to serve as a bridge between customers’ real-world feedback and our development team, so that we can work together to address challenges as one team. For example, in the process of developing SaaS products, I have closely witnessed how our developers give their all to create solutions that can really help people on the shop floor, while sincerely working alongside customers to better understand the challenges they face. Seeing that passion, I feel that it is my responsibility to fully understand and reflect the perspectives of both customers and our development team. I try to deeply understand customers’ potential challenges and convey them to the developers, while also clearly communicating to customers the intentions behind our products and how the developers aim to solve those challenges. I see this as my mission, and I want to carry it out diligently and persistently.
The “Power of Digital Technology” to Deliver Better Monozukuri
── What do you find most rewarding about your current job?
Tokunaga:I find the most rewarding part of my current job to be those moments when, working together with development members and sales staff, we are able to solve a customer’s real-world challenges. I also find great value in the process of shaping a new business model called “FA digital solutions” in an FA industry where equipment sales have traditionally been completed with a one-time sale. In addition, while it is extremely challenging, I also find it rewarding to build the sales structure and create the rules from scratch all the way up to launch. As mentioned earlier, my role is to solve customers’ challenges. So, the more often our proposed solutions satisfy customers, the more rewarding my work will become, and that is what I hope for.
── How do you see the future of FA digital solutions?
Tokunaga:To achieve better monozukuri for each customer, it is important not only to focus on the functions of the product itself, but also on how the product is used, what operations it is used for, and what other products it is combined with. In that sense, the use of information through cloud services and applications, including SaaS, is expected to play a major role in solving challenges. I believe that is “the power of digital”, and it is our role to propose how information can be best utilized. As production sites face various challenges, such as labor shortages and environmental requirements, I hope that Mitsubishi Electric can help realize a world where digital technology and human strengths are integrated, enabling everyone to take part in advanced monozukuri, and continue to grow as a partner that customers “continue to choose.”
── Finally, what do you find most compelling about monozukuri?
Tokunaga:Through my experiences with many customers, I have come to feel that even in the same industry and business type, the culture and atmosphere of monozukuri differ from company to company, or rather, from site to site.
Even when the goals and outcomes are similar, the approaches and processes behind them strongly reflect each company’s culture, and that is what makes me feel the depth of monozukuri once again.
That is why I want to stay close to each customer, face each challenge one by one, and propose truly one-of-a-kind solutions.
*This article is based on interviews conducted in June 2026.
