Global Consumer Finance: GCF provides credit services to retailers and consumers in 25 countries around the world.

“The Lake acquisition was a great opportunity,” said Charlie Crabtree, senior vice president and chief operating officer of GCF. “The Lake management was flexible and excited about joining GE Capital that together we took a calculated risk and started the integration about 60 days before the deal closed. This gave an outstanding jump-start toward building the sound foundation for the growth that Lake’s consumer finance base will provide. It is going very well.”

Tak Yamakawa, GCF Japan president and CEO, agrees.

“By the end of December, 40 percent of the accounts — roughly a half million contracts — had already been converted to the new legal entity, beating the goal of 26 percent,” Tak reported. “We asked each customer to participate in a Voice of the Customer survey. This data is invaluable.”

Tak said the information will provide fuel for Six Sigma projects, customer service improvements and marketing strategies. In total, about 1.3 million customers will have the opportunity to tell GE what they want.

Internally, GCF Japan’s leadership and human resource teams are meeting with groups of associates in 50 regions on weekends. They explain GE values, culture, benefits, incentives and careers. For many, it's also a first look at Six Sigma.

Lake's sales staff has earned a reputation. Here a Lake employee works one on one with a potential customer.

“The biggest challenge is to roll out Six Sigma to 2,700 people,” Tak said. “So far the response has been very positive.”

Although Lake is the fifth largest Japanese consumer finance company, it did not have a specific group of employees focusing on quality. A new quality leader is now creating a team, and 10 black belts are being trained.

“Lake is known for its strong leadership and sales staff. the way they have accelerated the ‘flip’ of customers from Lake to GE,” Tak emphasized. “GE is bringing the financial depth and managerial expertise to spur expansion.”

Lake built its consumer loan business with 500 computerized kiosks in high-traffic areas. Customers use
automatic teller machines to make payments on or withdraw cash from existing loans. They use automatic contract machines to apply for new loans.

Lake joins GCF’s existing Japanese businesses, which include sales finance and credit cards. Combined, they represent about 10 percent of the $46 billion consumer finance market in Japan.

“Our mission is to become the top consumer finance business in profitability, quality and productivity. Our associates are very positive about our mission,” Tak added. “This is the most exciting moment to be part GCF in Japan.”