Message from the President August.2020
Cutting a Path in an Uncertain World
“The White Paper on Manufacturing Industries (Monozukuri) 2020,” a report on trends found among manufacturers and in technologies assembled by three central government ministries, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), was published in May 2020. It focuses on growing uncertainties in the world as a current major challenge faced by manufacturing industries in Japan, and cites four strategies for addressing the issue: (1) Enhancing corporate reform capabilities, (2) advancing digital transformation (hereinafter “DX”), (3) improving design capabilities, and 4) expanding manpower.
These four strategies are closely connected. For example, shortening design and development lead time as much as possible is ideal when achieving product strategies for current global issues. In so doing, advancing agile development or repeating small cycles is considered to be effective in Europe and North America. The objective is to maximize the values of products and services born through a project in a short period.
DX promotion is essential for effectively shaping a cycle to apply massive absorbed user information to improve products in the market or upgrade them to new, easier-to-use versions. With that achieved, prompt and creative design capabilities are used to maximize value. To accomplish this, digital literates able to design the right combination of multiple technologies for developing products and services and think logically and mathematically will be necessary. Waterfall development had been the mainstream in Japanese manufacturing for many years. However, corporate reform capabilities enabling companies to review development approaches fundamentally according to user demand are crucial at this very stage.
Under the banner of the Transformation, we launched the Meitec Group Mid-Term Management Plan with business model reforms and improvement in the levels of customer and engineer satisfaction as its goals. We will continue with our efforts to make sure of uncertain external conditions so that Group companies and employees can gain skills and master independent actions for addressing changes in the world. At the same time, we must address the four strategies outlined in the White Paper as extremely important strategic targets in order to remain as a group of companies that will keep contributing to manufacturing in Japan.
On July 7, we started the Meeting of Officers in Charge of Supervising Areas and Contracting Businesses as a place for dialogues between our executive officers and employees in charge of areas and contracting businesses to implement strategies set in the Mid-Term Management Plan in more specific way. How we will reform ourselves and how we will cut a path toward the next generation are asked because we are in a world of uncertainty. Let’s use this forum to think and act together.
These four strategies are closely connected. For example, shortening design and development lead time as much as possible is ideal when achieving product strategies for current global issues. In so doing, advancing agile development or repeating small cycles is considered to be effective in Europe and North America. The objective is to maximize the values of products and services born through a project in a short period.
DX promotion is essential for effectively shaping a cycle to apply massive absorbed user information to improve products in the market or upgrade them to new, easier-to-use versions. With that achieved, prompt and creative design capabilities are used to maximize value. To accomplish this, digital literates able to design the right combination of multiple technologies for developing products and services and think logically and mathematically will be necessary. Waterfall development had been the mainstream in Japanese manufacturing for many years. However, corporate reform capabilities enabling companies to review development approaches fundamentally according to user demand are crucial at this very stage.
Under the banner of the Transformation, we launched the Meitec Group Mid-Term Management Plan with business model reforms and improvement in the levels of customer and engineer satisfaction as its goals. We will continue with our efforts to make sure of uncertain external conditions so that Group companies and employees can gain skills and master independent actions for addressing changes in the world. At the same time, we must address the four strategies outlined in the White Paper as extremely important strategic targets in order to remain as a group of companies that will keep contributing to manufacturing in Japan.
On July 7, we started the Meeting of Officers in Charge of Supervising Areas and Contracting Businesses as a place for dialogues between our executive officers and employees in charge of areas and contracting businesses to implement strategies set in the Mid-Term Management Plan in more specific way. How we will reform ourselves and how we will cut a path toward the next generation are asked because we are in a world of uncertainty. Let’s use this forum to think and act together.
August, 2020