Time to review issues revealed by the progress of the 12th Three-year Business Plan and chart the next plan and roadmap

In the 12th Three-year Business Plan, the Noritake Group has identified three growth areas—Environment, Electronics, and Well-being—and is moving forward with business domain transformation to align with these promising fields. In 2023, the second year of the Plan, both development and sales have shown a positive attitude, and various initiatives are progressing steadily. However, I also see significant challenges. Due to the wide range of products and areas we have, it is still difficult to capture overall progress and there is a lack of speed.
The Noritake Group is now at a stage where it should have a clearer picture of its business portfolio and draw up a plan that includes production and human resources to drive the transformation toward that portfolio. For example, in terms of production, planning for production capacity and resource allocation should be carried out, and the necessary investments should be made for production facility enhancement and reorganization of locations to meet the targets.
Similarly, for human resources, it is important to plan placements, reinforcements, and training with a view to achieving
targets—essentially to practice human capital management. First, firmly advise that we proceed with initiatives based on the human resource strategy formulated this fiscal year to further increase the value of its human capital.
Regarding DX investment, it appears while various initiatives seem to be progressing on the ground, simply improving operational efficiency may not yield returns commensurate to the investments made. I believe that we need to take a broader, company-wide view and make decisions on large-scale investments with a long-term perspective.
Plans should be reviewed and adapted in response to environmental changes, but without a plan, it is impossible to evaluate or supervise progress. I would like Noritake to maintain the firm intent to execute its strategies with a clear overall perspective and a sense of speed.
In this context, I commend that we have introduced "ROIC by business" and started evaluating and analyzing the investments and returns per business unit and product group, aiming for management with an awareness of capital costs. Going forward, we must carefully verify whether the goals we set can be achieved.
In terms of governance, I believe the transition to a company structure with an Audit and Supervisory Committee in June 2023 has steadily enhanced the effectiveness of the meeting of the Board of Directors. Specifically, the function of the Audit and Supervisory Committee has been demonstrated, allowing the meeting of the Board of Directors to prioritize agenda items, leading to more in-depth discussions and deliberations. On the other hand, there is still some room for improvement in the activities of the Nomination & Compensation Committee. I expect Noritake to continue to strengthen the activities and functions of the meeting of the Board of Directors and each committee, raising the level of operations and building a governance structure that contributes to enhancing the Group’s corporate value.
Many challenges have surfaced in the course of our efforts, but I see this as evidence of the active new initiatives being
undertaken within the organization and its businesses as they work to achieve the 2030 vision.
Fiscal 2024 is the final year of the 12th Three-year Business Plan, and the Board of Directors are conducting active discussions to outline plans and roadmaps for the next Three-year Business Plan. To achieve a PBR in excess of 1, it is essential to complete our business portfolio transformation. It is also necessary to elevate the level of execution, make appropriate investments in facilities and human resources, and carefully evaluate and supervise these activities.
I am convinced that these initiatives will lead to an enhancement of the Noritake Group’s corporate value.
Noritake has many assets, such as the technologies and materials we have cultivated over the years. I believe that our ability to skillfully utilize these core competencies in developing new businesses and products, is the reason why we were able to celebrate our 120th anniversary. The focus on environment, electronics, and well-being, which we are currently prioritizing, is well-aligned with the current trends. I have high expectations that the Noritake Group will be able to make even greater strides by leveraging our current assets and linking them to new businesses and products in these three areas reliably with a sense of speed.