It's a little early, but I want to thank all of our employees for your hard work in 2022.

Once again, we would like to extend my gratitude to everyone for your efforts over the past year.

In 2022, the novel coronavirus outbreak did not subside, especially in the first quarter of the year, we were affected by the lockdown in China. As for China, we are still concerned about the confusion caused by their zero- corona policy review and other issues in December.

There were also disruptions in the supply chain and supply constraints, which led to production cuts in automobiles and other products, and our group was unable to produce as planned at the beginning of the period, which was often frustrating.

In addition, the soaring costs of raw materials and energy, due to the tense situation in Ukraine and Russia and the sharp depreciation of the yen, have led to an increase in all kinds of prices.

Although the outlook for the external environment remains uncertain, our employees are "flexibly responding to change.

In the production section, you work on Kaizen activity well for an production off term.

In the sales division, I am encouraged by their efforts to maintain relationships of trust with customers and to negotiate selling prices that reflect the higher costs of raw materials, fuel, and transportation.

On-site Inspection

In my blog at the end of last year, I mentioned that I would like to visit overseas factories as much as possible the next year. Manufacturing cannot be done from home, and it is important to communicate face to face with those working on the manufacturing floor.

After all, the most important thing is to be "Genchi-Genbutsu” (on site, in person).

In 2022, since the corona regulations in each country became a little more relaxed, I was able to go on an inspection tour of Asia, the Americas, and Europe, in addition to our domestic sites, after thoroughly implementing infection prevention measures.

In October, we were also able to have executives from our overseas sites visit Japan and hold a GMM (Global Management Meeting) for the first time in four years.

In early December of this year, I went to visit our European bases.

In Poland and Italy, while confirming that they have been working steadily to improve their factory operations, I asked them to learn from more effective examples of Kaizen cases in other regions.

In Germany, I visited an evaluation facility.

I was able to listen carefully to local executives, have them share with me the recent situation in Europe, and discuss what should be done in the future.

Web conferencing has the advantage of speedy information sharing, but I believe that a sense of atmosphere and the true feelings of the other party can only be conveyed through face-to-face communication.

Therefore, I will continue to visit offices and factories, taking thorough measures to prevent infection.

It has been two and a half years since I took office as President!

The president's blog has been sent out more than 100 times to date.

I would like to continue to do so, and I would be happy if all employees would read it and share their thoughts and ideas with me.

It has also been one year since we started our in-house web-based newsletter "Mitsukumi2".

It seems to be spreading and I have heard that more than 3,500 people are using it.

I would like to continue to communicate with you in a way that is appropriate for the times, and I hope that each workplace will further enhance communication among you.

Year-end and New Year's Holidays

I will, as usual, exercise a little, refresh myself, and think about further developing our group in 2023.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's holiday.

And let's all do our best next year, remembering “Banji-nissei”!

Banji-nissei :Do your sincere best, not only in business, but also in ever aspect of your life.

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