Murata: Tiny Parts, Huge Impact on Global Supply Chains

Recorded on April 24, 2025 as part of the International Business Webinar Series Hosted by GSU CIBER and sponsored by the national CIBER MSI Consortium. When things are going right, the small things are easy to ignore. Not so when supply chains are stressed. That’s what happened with Murata, a Kyoto-based company with global annual revenues of approximately $17 Trillion yen and 40 percent of the world’s market share for capacitors. When a tsunami hit Japan’s northeast coast in 2011 and an earthquake shook the country, electronics supply chains were scrambled. Murata, whose products store and release power in electronic devices, had already been diversifying its sourcing around the world, including in Southeast Asia, to be closer to end customers. Georgia has been part of the Murata system for 50 years, adapting as sourcing has shifted and Murata moved up the value chain. Murata Electronics North America, which set up here in 1974, recently opened a new headquarters in Atlanta and maintains a distribution center in Rockmart, Ga. Join GSU-CIBER and Global Atlanta to hear from company CEO David Kirk, on how the company is dealing with increasing volatility in high-value industries where the smallest parts can make the biggest impact. Key takeaways: -How Murata has diversified its manufacturing locations around the world in partnership with customers and what that has meant for the company’s U.S. operations -Murata’s approach to continuous improvement in research and development, its moves up the value chain over the last 50 years, and efforts to showcase innovation in relatable ways like robots and other consumer-facing items -The company’s approach to trade uncertainty and supply chain volatility and how the company balances its Japanese sensibilities, including long-term strategy, with a nimble approach in global markets The International Business Webinar Series is a project of the national CIBER Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Consortium, led by Georgia State University CIBER and sponsored by CIBERs at Florida International University, George Washington University, Indiana University, Loyola Marymount University, Michigan State University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, University of Colorado-Denver, and the University of Maryland. This program is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education.