Message from the President January.2019

Happy New Year. I’m delighted to celebrate this New Year, the final one for the Heisei period, with you.

This year, 2019, will be the third and final fiscal year under the Group Mid-Term Management Plan, known as “Next Stage 1.” The Meitec Group will steadily advance its efforts to create new value over the next 12 months, aiming to offer high-added value toward the goal of evolving into a group of companies capable of sustaining their growth.

Looking back on 2018, factors such as trade friction between the United States and China, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), geopolitical risks (including the North Korean situation and problems in the Islamic world), and the risk of economic slowdowns in Europe and China made it impossible to dispel uncertainty over the global economy. The future of the global economy thus remains unpredictable. Nonetheless, major economies have remained strong.

In Japan, the economic recovery, which goes back to December 2012, surpassed the four years and nine months that had been record in the era of high economic growth, which was known as the Izanagi boom, to become the second longest since the end of World War II. Economic conditions have held reasonably firm in Japan.

Meanwhile, technologies with significant implications for innovation of businesses, products and services in industry around the world, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, connected cars and robots, continue to evolve.

Companies, including Meitec Group customers in the manufacturing sector, are achieving a productivity revolution by making the free use of AI, IoT and other technologies, and are achieving high added value in their products and services in fields such as medical treatment and social infrastructure. In the mobility field, they are developing products and technologies with high added value from a market perspective, such as automatic driving and advanced driving support systems, electrically powered vehicles and connected cars, as part of their initiatives to differentiate themselves and raise their market competitiveness through open innovation. This development may accelerate this year and make 2019 into a turning point in the structure of the manufacturing sector worldwide.

With these social and environmental changes, we must keep our goals high as a group of engineers who play core manufacturing roles through our very presence and technologies, as suggested by “Engineering Firm at The Core,” the name that conveys the essence of the Meitec Group. Let’s add higher value, create new value and aim at turning ourselves into a group that contributes to society through the business of supplying manufacturers with technological services.

I want each and every one of Meitec Group employees to work successfully with self-confidence and pride in 2019. I would like to join forces with all of you and together move the Meitec Group steadily forward in the coming year.
Let me conclude this New Year’s message by wishing you and your families continued success and prosperity.