Just Four Employees: How PILLAR, a 100-Year-Old Manufacturer, Wins in a Partner-Driven Middle East, Africa and Central Asia

Founded in Osaka in 1924, PILLAR Corporation is a manufacturer of fluid control equipment listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its consolidated revenue reached ¥59.479 billion in FY2025, and is forecast to grow 140% year-on-year to ¥83.0 billion in FY2026. With an electronics equipment business serving the semiconductor and LCD industries, and an industrial equipment business supplying mechanical seals for the oil & gas and energy sectors, this 100-year-old company of 1,308 group employees covers the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia through PILLAR Seal Solutions Middle East FZCO, based in DAFZ. On September 2, 2026, at the fireside chat segment of "Promoting Japanese Corporate Entry into DAFZ" — a webinar co-hosted by Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZ) and Biz Easy — the company's local representative, Koji Hatanaka, took the stage. He spoke about how a team of just four people covers such a wide territory, and about the realities of doing business in a region he flatly calls "a partner's game."

Koji Hatanaka

Representative, PILLAR Seal Solutions Middle East FZCO

01How Four People Cover the Territory: Using the Freezone as an "Outsourced Engine"

PILLAR Seal Solutions Middle East FZCO was established in the Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZ) in August 2013. Its territory spans the Middle East and Africa, extending into Central Asia — and this scale of market is run by a local team of just four people.

So why DAFZ specifically? Hatanaka points to the freezone's strong operational support as the deciding factor. Company registration, visa acquisition, and opening a bank account — the very steps that trip up most new entrants — are, in his words, "relatively controllable" here. On top of that, the location's proximity to the airport makes it easier to build networks and stay plugged into up-to-date, on-the-ground information.

Rather than trying to handle everything in-house, PILLAR treats the freezone's systems and surrounding services as an "outsourced engine." Its lean, wide-reaching operating model may offer one workable answer for companies looking to right-size their approach to market entry.

02"This Region Runs on Partners": Building a Presence on Two Fronts — Technology and Relationships

For a B2B manufacturer putting down roots in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, Hatanaka repeatedly returned to one theme: the partner.

The other pillar is balancing Japanese technical strength with local support. The mechanical seals PILLAR supplies are niche, technical products for the oil & gas and energy sectors, where the quality of post-sale maintenance and replacement support directly builds trust.

Communication can be a challenge, which is where staff with long tenure in the region step in to support. A foundation of trust in technical capability, paired with long-term investment in relationships and local talent — this two-pronged approach is what has allowed PILLAR's operation to keep growing for well over a decade.

03Where the Focus Is Now: Deepening Replacement Demand, and a New Move

PILLAR's business, Hatanaka explains, is mainly driven by after-sales service on equipment already installed in plants — in other words, replacement demand. That shapes a clear set of priorities for where the company is focusing.

Hatanaka also revealed plans to exhibit at WETEX, Dubai's energy trade show, this coming October — sharing space in a partner's booth. Solidifying existing strengths while laying groundwork for new markets and new products at the same time reflects PILLAR's own stated approach: opening up untapped countries, creating new markets, and introducing new products, all at once.

04The Gap Between Expectation and Reality: Relationships "You Only Understand Once You're Here"

Hatanaka came to this role from another company, and has now lived in Dubai for roughly nine years, counting his previous job. What was the biggest gap he found between what he expected and what he found on the ground?

From B2C to B2B, industries change, but the foundation of how you engage with people doesn't. Hatanaka's words here point to something any Japanese company, regardless of industry, should look for in the person they put in charge of a regional base.

05Lessons from PILLAR's Playbook: How to Win the Region with a Lean Team

• Using the freezone's operational support as an "outsourced engine" to run wide-reaching operations with a small team
  → Biz Easy can build an operating scheme designed around a lean headcount, covering everything from company registration, visas, and bank account setup to outsourced accounting and HR design.
• The need to identify capable partners and build relationships in a market where "this region runs on partners"
  → Biz Easy offers end-to-end support — from researching local trade flows and candidate partners, to compliance checks and contract support. We've also conducted expert interviews with industry specialists on the ground, which lets us help clients assess a candidate partner's real standing and read industry trends more accurately.
• The management challenge of developing local talent over the long term, to sustain trust in your technical capability
  → From designing hiring plans to building performance review systems, we can support you end-to-end with HR programs built around retaining local engineers and service staff.

Expanding into the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia doesn't have to mean deploying a large headcount. PILLAR's example shows the value of leaning on freezone operational support while concentrating scarce resources on the single highest-value task: building relationships.