（株）大熊（従業員11名）はオートバイク用の手袋を開発・生産しています。代表取締役社長の大熊郁雄氏によると、同社が創業した1982年頃には、手袋産地の香川県白鳥町（現東かがわ市）にバイク用手袋の生産者は12社、現在1～2社しかありません。厳しい状況下で同社が発展して来られたのは、生産の海外進出と製品差別化のおかげです。

大熊氏は大阪の貿易商社に勤務、手袋のアメリカ向け輸出に携わっていましたが、いわゆるニクソンショック後の急速な円高で、アメリカ向け輸出は「バッタリ」となくなりました。そのため独立を決意、当初は婦人用の革製バッグを作っていましたが、東京の友人の「バイク用手袋を縫うところを探してくれ」がヒントになり、バイク用手袋の製作に乗り出しました。後発の同社には製品の差別化が必要です。商社勤務時代に知っていたデュポン社開発の「ケプラ」繊維に目をつけました。これは防弾チョッキにも用いられるもので、ナイフでも切れないし、ライターで火をつけても燃えません。当時韓国には入っていましたが、日本には未導入でした。「これを使えばうまくいく」とひらめきました。案の定評判を呼び、最初から大口の取引を獲得できました。販売先は日本のオートバイメーカー2社とバイク用品の大手メーカです。商社を通さず直納しています。相手先ブランドによる下請生産ですが、「大熊」がデザイン提案をしています。話し合いを基に、その場でデザインし、その場で縫って見せるため、説得力があります。同社のスタッフ全員、これができるのが、他社をしのぐ営業力になっています。

当初、生産は旧白鳥町の業者に委託していましたが、日本では「縫子」をする若い女性がいなくなってしまいました。そこで、商社時代に知り合ったフィリピン人の紹介で、フィリピンのバターンの工場団地で生産を開始（1988年）、社長自ら技術を指導しました。従業員数は90人くらいに増えましたが、思ったよりコストがかさみ、毎年1千万円の赤字。このため、1991年中国の無錫に生産拠点を設け、1993年にフィリピン工場のフィリピン人技術者2人と設備を中国に移し、中国に生産を一本化しました。当時の中国の賃金は極端に低く（大熊社長によると「ただのようなもの」）、しかも、進出先の村が中卒者を「今年は5人」といった調子であてがってくれました。品物が汚れないように「手を洗え」という指導から始めましたが、中国への生産の一本化で、経営は息を吹き返しました。

しかし、その中国も賃金が上昇、パキスタンのインド国境沿いの町、シャルコットに工場を設けました（2004年）。手袋一組の現在の縫製加工賃は、中国1,000円に対しパキスタン400円です。しかも、中国ではバイク用手袋のもう一つの素材、皮革（皮革とケプラを縫い合わせ、製品にします）は日本から輸入ですが、優れたなめし技術があるため現地調達できます。インフラ面の不便はありますが、技術指導により高品質を実現しています。なお、労働者は全員男性だそうです。

「大熊」はインドネシアに協力工場も持ち、中国50％、パキスタン25％、インドネシア25％の国際生産体制を構築、しかも、「メイド・イン・ジャパン」以上の品質を達成していると自信を持っています。

このように、製品差別化と国際生産体制（低コスト化）で発展してきた「大熊」ですが、バイク人口の減少という問題に直面しており、バイク用以外への市場多角化と脱下請けを課題に、次の発展を目指しているところです。

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Okuma Corporation (11 employees) develops and produces gloves for motorcycles. According to Okuma Ikuo, President and CEO, around 1982 when the company was founded, there were 12 producers of motorcycle gloves in Shirotori Town, Kagawa Prefecture (currently Higashikagawa City) where gloves are produced, and currently there are only one or two. The company's development under difficult conditions is due to production in overseas countries and product differentiation.

Mr. Okuma worked for a trading company in Osaka and was involved in exporting gloves to the United States, but due to the rapid appreciation of the yen after the so-called Nixon shock, exports to the United States suddenly disappeared. Therefore, he decided to become independent and initially made leather bags for women, but his friend in Tokyo asked him to find a company that sews motorcycle gloves, and he was inspired by that to make motorcycle gloves by himself. However, the latecomer company had to produce something different from others. Therefore, he focused on the "Kepla" fiber developed by DuPont, which he knew when he was working at a trading company. It's also used in bulletproof vests, it won't cut with a knife, and it won't burn when lit with a lighter. It was introduced in South Korea at that time, but not in Japan. "It works," so he instinctively felt. As expected, it was well received and was able to win big deals from the beginning. It was sold to two Japanese motorcycle manufacturers and a major manufacturer of motorcycle accessories. He sold them directly to the motorcycle manufacturers without going through trading companies. Although it was subcontracted by the motorcycle manufacturer's brand, "Okuma" proposes the design. It is persuasive because it is designed on the spot based on discussions with the motorcycle manufacturers and sewn on the spot. All of the company's staff can do this, which is a sales force that surpasses that of other companies.

Initially, the production was outsourced to a company in the former Shirotori-cho, but in Japan there were no young women who do "sewing". So, with the introduction of a Filipino he met when he was with a trading company, he started production at the Bataan Industrial Park in the Philippines (1988), and the president himself trained local workers. The number of employees has increased to about 90, but the cost was higher than he expected, and the deficit was 10 million yen every year. For this reason, he set up a production base in Wuxi, China in 1991, and in 1993 he moved the equipment with two Filipino engineers from the Philippine factory to China to unify production in China. Wages in China at that time were extremely low (according to President Okuma, it was "like free"), and the village where the factory was set up arranged junior high school graduates as "five this year." He started the training with the instruction to "wash your hands" to keep the goods clean, and the unification of production in China brought the management back to life.

However, wages in China also rose, so a factory was set up in Sharcot, a town along the Indian border in Pakistan (2004). The current sewing fee for a pair of gloves is JPY 400 for Pakistan compared to JPY 1,000 for China. Moreover, in China, another material for motorcycle gloves, leather (leather and kepla are sewn together to make a product), is imported from Japan, but in Pakistan it can be procured locally due to its excellent tanning technology. Despite the inconvenience of infrastructure, he has achieved high quality through technical training. By the way, in Pakistan, all the workers are men.

"Okuma" also has a cooperating factory in Indonesia and has built an international production system of 50% in China, 25% in Pakistan and 25% in Indonesia, and he is confident that he has achieved quality higher than "Made in Japan". In this way, "Okuma" has developed through product differentiation and an international production system (cost reduction), but now it is facing the problem of a declining population using motorcycles. Therefore, he aims for the next development with the task of making products other than those for motorcycles, diversifying the market, and getting out of subcontracting.