Toshiba Executive Wants Open Line With Japan : Computers: New head of the Irvine-based unit blames long-distance relationship for many of the firm’s troubles.

After just three weeks as the top executive of Toshiba America’s computer division in Irvine, Michael J. Winkler has more questions than answers about how to run the company.

But those few weeks have been enough for Winkler to set some definite goals for retaining the company’s position as the No. 1 supplier of notebook and laptop computers--one of the fastest-growing segments of the PC business. Foremost among those goals: improving communication between the Irvine subsidiary and its Tokyo-based parent company, Toshiba Corp.

Winkler joined Toshiba during one of the computer division’s toughest periods. Fierce competition in the portable computer market has hurt Toshiba’s sales, forcing some layoffs and a two-week plant closure in Irvine last summer.

“There is no question we had problems in the past year, but now we’re under better control. What we need is a tighter product development relationship,” Winkler said in an interview Tuesday at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.

Winkler, a 23-year veteran of the computer industry and a former vice president of marketing for Xerox Corp.’s printing systems division, replaced William Johnson, who resigned in April as Toshiba’s computer sales went in a tailspin.

Toshiba pioneered the portable computer market in the United States in the mid-1980s. In the past year, however, an explosion in demand for notebook computers caught Toshiba flat-footed with older products that were considered obsolete.

While computer makers like AST Research Inc. in Irvine were unveiling low-cost notebooks with super-fast microprocessors--the main number-crunching chips in a computer--Toshiba’s product lineup began to look slower and more expensive in comparison.

Sales plummeted in the first half of 1991. The company laid off 12% of its 2,000 employees and revamped its distribution program.

In April and May, Johnson and a number of top managers left the company. Then, last summer, the company was forced to shut down its Irvine factory for two weeks to sell off excess inventory.

Former executives and analysts have blamed Toshiba’s problems on poor communication between company executives in Irvine and the parent company in Japan. This has resulted in Toshiba’s bringing products with the latest technology to market less quickly than some rivals.

Winkler asserted that many of those problems have been solved. The company has introduced three new lines of notebook computers this fall, including one that won two technical awards this week from prominent trade journals.

He said close communication with product engineers in Japan and marketing professionals in Irvine is essential to the company’s ability to keep up with its competitors and changes in technology.

“Our people in Irvine are going to be meeting once every quarter with the Japanese development people to outline what products we will need for the market in the coming year,” he said.

Winkler said marketing executives in Irvine are playing a greater role in determining what type of machines will be developed for the U.S. market.

He also said there are no plans for further layoffs in Irvine.

Winkler said the Irvine division has about 21% of the portable computer market in the United States and will continue to focus on that business.