Message from Our Outside Directors

Push forward the development of human resources who will boldly compete on a global scale.
New IR initiatives are also necessary to increase P/B ratio.

Yuichi Oi Outside Director

We believe that our role as outside directors is to understand the context in which a proposal is placed on the agenda and to offer our opinions based on our respective expected skills and experience.
I have always been able to speak without reservations and be sure of a fair hearing. Knowledge of the Company and the industry is a necessary prerequisite to proper discussion, and I have been given many opportunities to learn about the reality of the situation, including opportunities to exchange views with executive officers and employees. I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the Company’s business environment by attending various subcommittees, environmental exhibitions, technology presentations, and factory improvement activity presentations, as well as a tour of Aisan Academy.

I recognize that efforts to achieve the VISION2030 targets are making steady progress. My concern is whether we will be able to speed up our business strategy to compete with the rest of the world as the ratio of overseas sales increases. When investing capital in regions and businesses outside of Japan where there are potential strengths, it is necessary to develop human resources who can accurately assess future prospects and business risks and implement investments. As an outside director with overseas experience, going forward I would like to ask how communication with overseas offices is handled and to hear thoughts on training of local managers involved in overseas operations. In order to improve P/B ratio (Price to Book Ratio), I believe it is important to promote the Company’s attractiveness through steady IR activities in order to raise the stock price. It may also be time to consider new approaches in IR activities.

We should utilize off-site meetings to proactively discuss major themes related to management.

Satoe Tsuge Outside Director

We view our performance in recent year as strong, partly due to the record-high profits. This was the result of our commitment to MMK (Motto Monozukuri Kyoka, “strengthening of manufacturing”) activities and ROIC management, which has gradually been reflected in the increase in our profitability. We also have high expectations for the two M&As as new sources of enhanced corporate value.

The off-site meetings that began in 2024 came about at my suggestion. The first meeting was positioned as a trial and some issues arose, as we were unable to touch on major themes. Nevertheless, the meeting proved to be fruitful, with the directors in the Company actively speaking up in their own words. We will continue this initiative and hope to exchange views on more in-depth themes at the next session and beyond.

In fiscal 2023, two M&As were implemented as investments in the future of new businesses. This demonstrates our proactive and extensive grasp of the market and commitment to executing our plan, and I feel that a significant change in corporate culture has occurred in the 10 years since I assumed my position.

I am involved in our efforts for human capital management, particularly diversity and female empowerment initiatives. Through our efforts to empower female employees, we have seen a change in awareness as evidenced by the implementation of training for executives and a rise in the male childcare leave usage rate. To go one step further, we need to bring in fresh perspectives and actively recruit women from other industries to work on changing the values in the company.

Systematization and effective utilization of company-wide data collection and sharing will be an issue for future DX.

Yurie Iribe Outside Director

I am also in favor of introducing flexible work arrangements and fostering role models for career women in order to increase diversity. Although some may feel that promotion to an executive position comes with a burden, we hope that many will appreciate the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes with increased freedom in their work.

In recent year, we actively worked to reduce labor requirements in factories in anticipation of future declines in the workforce, and put ideas from the field into practice to reduce time and labor-hours. Quantifying the degree of improvement and introducing collaborative robots are still in the trial-and-error phase, but we look forward to future results.

One of the advantages of DX is transfer of skills. In the Aisan Academy initiative, cameras and sensors are used to quantify the manufacturing processes of experienced employees and new hires, comparing the timing, pacing, and posture of limb movements. By reflecting this in the training of new employees, we can reduce human error and improve the work environment. On the other hand, the challenge of DX is the systematization of data collection and sharing, which is dispersed among various departments. We have started the creation of a pilot system, but the issue of how to utilize the shared data remains. We need to interview each department about their workflow and try to automate more of their tasks. It is also necessary to create a roadmap of what else can be done with DX and how to proceed in line with the company’s vision, and to have the flexibility to modify the roadmap as needed if unexpected problems or obstacles arise during the actual implementation. DX is not something that can be done in a matter of months, so we would like to see steady accumulation of small successes.