In 1989, the presidency of the company was passed to Shigeru's son, Hirotaka Kawai. Hirotaka began with a pledge to carry on the "commitment to excellence" established by his father and grandfather. Early in his tenure as president, Hirotaka invested tens of millions of dollars to incorporate advanced robotics in the production process. Then he took production outside Japan for the
first time with the launch of Kawai America Manufacturing and the acquisition of the Lowrey Organ Company... followed by the founding of Kawai Asia Manufacturing in Malaysia in 1991 and the establishment of Kawai Finishing in the United States in 1995.
Later, he oversaw the development and introduction of Kawai's internationally-acclaimed RX Series Artist Grand Pianos. And, most recently, he continued to strengthen Kawai's worldwide manufacturing presence with the establishment of Karawan – "Kawai's Japanese manufacturing facility" in Indonesia, built with meticulous care to uphold and perpetuate the company's exacting standards of quality.
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