Achievements

Superbrands Awards

The Market
It is said that a man's character is embodied in the quality of his penmanship and the style of his handwriting. If this be the case, then Pilot pens have been privy to the hidden personality and character of countless individuals for over 80 years. Pilot Pen (S) Pte Ltd is part of an international network of subsidiaries under the Pilot Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company celebrates its 88th anniversary in 2006 and remains a respected name in the industry with a reputation for the design and manufacture of world-class writing instruments.

Pilot pens have had a long history in Singapore. They arrived on the island when the company set up an overseas office here in 1926. Today, Pilot is the leading brand of disposal writing instruments in Singapore.

The company's primary business is in the design and manufacture of technologically innovative pens that meet the needs of its customers, who range from students to draughtsmen and from educational institutions to design houses. The company achieves this while maintaining a reputation for competitive pricing in addition to creative original designs and innovative ink products.

A sizeable proportion of Pilot Pen's customers are students and schools, and the company ensures that it maintains its hold on this market share through active sponsorship of student-related events and sports activities.

Achievements
Since its establishment in Japan in 1918, Pilot has chalked up many milestones. Within just eight years of starting business, the company had offices in London, New York, Shanghai and Singapore. This was quickly followed by the launch of its first mechanical pencils, first oil-based ink markers and subsequently, the manufacture and sale of its innovative ballpoint pens.

In 1961, Pilot was listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, followed by a listing on the first section of the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges the next year. The 1960s saw Pilot making its presence felt in the European market with the setting up of offices in Italy and France.

From then on, the company expanded rapidly and to this day, continues to make a name for itself as a forward-looking company that aims to put a Pilot pen in the hand of every writer in the global market.

History
The Pilot Corporation was founded in 1918. Its founder, mechanical engineer Ryosuke Namiki, was an alumni and professor of the Tokyo Merchant Marine College. While at the college, he realised the need to improve the quality of existing pens used for drawing. After he successfully invented a gold writing tip for fountain pens, Ryosuke Namiki entered into a partnership with a colleague, Masao Wada, to form the Namiki Manufacturing Company. They began to manufacture and sell fountain pens in 1918. The business was slowly extended to include the production of other writing instruments such as mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, markers, ink cartridges and pencil leads, as well as stationery and computer supplies.

The company was renamed The Pilot Pen Co Ltd in 1938 and subsequently changed its name to the Pilot Corporation in 1989. Today, the company has 21 subsidiaries and five affiliates in the US, Europe and Asia.

The Product
Although Pilot's roots lie in its range of fountain pens, the company has played a leading role in the development of other writing technology, innovative designs and creative materials. With a wide range of writing instruments for all purposes under its brand, the company has a writing product for every need. While its competitors choose to outsource the manufacture of different writing components, Pilot makes its components and parts under strict quality control in its own industrial plants in Japan, the US, France and Brazil. As a sign of its commitment to quality, Pilot invests heavily in research and development, state-of-the-art facilities as well as strategic marketing plans to launch and promote its products.

Pilot is best recognised for its top-of-the-line fountain pens which are a showcase of the type of expertise that the company has invested in over the years. From designers to precision engineers, Pilot's team of experts harnesses the power of new technology and materials to create the latest writing instruments. One of Pilot's most notable skills is in Japanese lacquering. The company produces fountain pens polished with a lacquer that never fades - a hallmark of Pilot fountain pens. Its world-class collection features hand-painted maki-e, a centuries-old art of transforming gold, silver, colour pigments and lacquer into artistic expressions. These designs have earned Pilot a global reputation for quality and innovation.

For the regular user, Pilot offers a full collection of easy-to-use writing instruments with modern designs and a broad range of nib point sizes that suit all categories of handwriting. Pilot's product range includes mechanical pencils and pencil leads, ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, drawing pens, liquid ink pens, gel pens, whiteboard markers, permanent markers, overhead projector markers and highlighters, among other top-quality writing accessories. With each launch of a new product, Pilot introduces an enhanced feature and gives its customers value-added writing experience.

Besides introducing a steady stream of hit writing instruments, the Pilot brand is also synonymous with other world-class writing equipment.

The Pilot Wyteboard is a revolutionary white board designed with minimum surface reflection and a preferred choice of educators and conference organisers for lectures and seminars. The Pilot Chalkless Board is an innovative magnetic panel board that uses magnetic power to write and erase text or drawings similar to the technology used in the popular Magna Doodle, another innovative product from Pilot. The board does not use chalk or ink-based markers and is thus most suited to clean-room conditions. The company is also behind the production of Magmedia, a high-end display screen that integrates electronic and magnetic technology. Stationery accessories include the Pilot Stylus used for inputing data into electronic notebooks, word processors, handheld PDAs and personal computers. Pilot also has a strong presence in the computer industry with its range of impact printer ribbons and thermal transfer ribbons.

Recent Developments
To stay ahead of its competitors, Pilot constantly launches new products with enhanced features.

The Pilot Dr. Grip ballpoint pen, designed by a Japanese physician, is the world's first mass-produced ergonomically designed pen. The pen has an optimum weight distribution design that provides the ultimate in comfortable, balanced writing. The Dr. Grip pen has been commended by the American Arthritis Foundation as best suited for use by sufferers of arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other hand problems. A newer version of the pen called the Dr. Grip Centre of Gravity was launched recently. This is a geometrically contoured pen with a gripping axis designed to reduce writing stress and is the only product of its kind in the market today. Pilot's group of younger consumers is particularly attracted to the pen barrel that allows them to insert a personalised design for identification.

The company also launched a series of miniaturised pens, one-third shorter than the regular-sized Pilot pens. The range is popular among students and consumers looking for petite yet stylish writing instruments.

Pilot's latest innovation is the Pilot V-Board Master, an environment-friendly whiteboard marker that uses replaceable anti-spillage ink cartridges. This saves the user from the messy task of manually refilling the markers using the regular ink pots.

Promotion
Pilot promotes the launch of its new products through catchy and colourful television commercials and creative print ads.

Pilot is an active sponsor of the National Inter-School Badminton Championships for both the primary and secondary schools. Pilot has been a sponsor of the championships for the past 13 years. The company also keeps its brand top-of-mind by awarding scholarships to all-rounded students who demonstrate academic achievements, participation in co-curricular activities and display a vibrant community spirit. The first award was given in 2006 in collaboration with Quest, a magazine published by the teachers' network in Singapore. Pilot intends to make this award an annual event.

Pilot also organised the The Pen Awards, an English essay-writing competition in collaboration with Reader's Digest. Through this project, Pilot hopes to nurture the younger generation's love for the written word.

To instil a sense of charity among students, Pilot also recently supported an event called The New Paper Be Yourself Day where students were given a day to hang up their uniforms and dress up to express their personalities while donating to a worthy cause. The event was organised as a part of The President's Challenge 2006.

Pilot's promotional events serve to instil a stronger branding while at the same time help the company to reach the younger generation and encourage them to continue the habit of writing instead of using electronic communication devices.

Brand Values
Through the years, consumers have come to recognise the Pilot name and its reputation for producing trusted, top-quality writing instruments. Consumers have benefited from the company's commitment to its values of excellence in production, quality-driven innovations and its ability to constantly surprise.

Things You Didn't Know About Pilot Pen

• In 1918, Pilot became the first company in Japan to manufacture a fountain pen gold nib with an iridium-alloy point. It was the first pen specifically suited to the complicated characters in Japanese writing
• Pilot celebrated its 88th birthday in 2006. In Japan, the 88th birthday is known as beiju, an important milestone in a rich and long life
• All Pilot ballpoint pens are constructed with stainless steel tips
• The first retractable, capless fountain pen in the world was produced by Pilot