At the end of June, I visited our North American base for the first time in about three years. There, I received a business report from a local member, and inspected the factory.

Our North American bases are in a difficult situation, affected by excessive competition to gain market share in the past, personnel shortages, and the recent sharp rise in raw material and transportation costs.

Despite these circumstances, everyone is working hard to improve profitability.

Therefore, I encouraged them by saying “The future of our group depends on your performance in North America in FY2022, so I would like you to do your best.”

At SRK-OH in Ohio, I listened to the interim report of a workshop on "What SRK-OH should be in the future," which the young people were thinking about.

How will the automotive industry change?

What is SRK-OH's position in the industry?

These were the kind of contents that made us think about our management vision.

I immediately contacted the Japanese members and asked them to collaborate with us, as I was eager to have them exchange their views, since young people in Japan are also considering the Vision in the same way.

I am very much looking forward to the final report meeting next year.

At the SRK-TN plant in Tennessee, Mr.Teddy Reaves (center photo), who has been with the company for 26 years since its establishment, gave us a briefing on the plant.

As he is retiring at the end of June, he became the last presenter about their plant.

According to his supervisor, when he joined the company, his words of self-introduction were "I'm a farmer.

Farmers in Tennessee are said to be quiet but serious, and he continued to support our plant's equipment maintenance for 26 years, just like his Tennessee personality.

Now 67 years old, he said "I’m going back to being a Farmer with my wife".

He is a quiet and very cool person.

It was a time when I realized once again that we are blessed to have dedicated members like him and that we are able to do our best on a global scale.

Although it was a short time, it was very good to be able to communicate face to face with everyone who is working hard locally and to confirm the situation in North America locally and in person.

I believe that the external environment will continue to be uncertain, but let's make sure that we will continue to make improvements where we can within our group and transform ourselves into a more solid management structure.

2022.07