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On November 22, 1918, America Japan Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. the forerunner of Nippon Sheet Glass, was founded with investment from Sumitomo General Head Office and Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Co., which provided the technology. Production began in 1920.
It was not smooth sailing at first. Sheet glass prices plummeted during the depression that followed the boom years of World War I, and were soon down to less than half of what they were only a year after the company started production.
America Japan Sheet Glass plunged into a business crisis as its cash flow rapidly dried up, and shareholders began a protracted discussion of how to turn the company around. Nobody had confidence in the future of the as-yet unproved sheet glass industry or the Colburn Process. In June 1922, a year after talks began, Sumitomo decided to rehabilitate the company. Once again, the deciding factor was Sumitomo’s business principle of undertaking projects to the benefit of mankind.
Making a fresh start with the full backing of Sumitomo and a new management, the company’s earnings turned around as a result of both sound “safety first” management efforts under Sumitomo’s supervision and an economic recovery. Adopting the new name Nippon Sheet Glass in 1931, the company weathered the storms of World War II and its aftermath. |
