Challenges to Address
The external environment has changed dramatically in recent years, including major changes in the automobile industry and climate change issues. In May 2021, we set forth the New G-TEKT Management Strategy to chart a new course for the future. In order to accelerate efforts in the area of electric vehicles, proactively address climate change issues, and achieve further growth, we will accelerate the following activities.
Establishment of EV-related business
Looking at the global shift to electric vehicles as an opportunity for business expansion of the Company, we will work to establish business related to EVs, focused on battery housings and motor cores, both used in EVs. With regard to battery housings, the Company is promoting initiatives to propose waste-free, optimal platforms through bundled development of body and battery housings based on its accumulated whole vehicle-body analysis technologies. In motor cores, we have started developing mass production technology using prototype dies, while proceeding with motor core technology development and plans to build in-house production lines for verifying the quality and productivity of suppliers.
Improvement of the diversity of human resources
To respond to a rapidly changing business environment, we will work to develop and secure human resources of diverse knowledge and experience. From a perspective of improvement of the individual diversity of our employees, we are working to develop and promote human resources internally, while strengthening the use of competent external human resources in new business areas, and so forth, where securing specialists is an urgent priority. Furthermore, in the area of promoting active participation of women, which we are currently addressing, in addition to fostering female leaders, we are taking steps to create plants that are comfortable for all workers, in order to fully engage in recruitment of women at our domestic plants. To support these activities, we will revise and enhance our personnel systems, build more appealing workplaces, and create systems that enable employees to continue working with confidence.
Transformation of existing businesses
Through our DX (Digital Transformation) project under the direct supervision of the President, we will utilize digital technologies to transform our organization, including operational processes, mainly in the areas of quality assurance and cost. In the quality assurance area, in 2021 established the G-TEKT Quality Assurance Center (GQC) in Tokyo, and we build systems with stronger prediction and prevention functions by visualizing the quality information of the Group globally and monitoring it. We are also working urgently to establish quality assurance systems suitable for our new business areas. In the area of cost, we are working to ascertain manufacturing costs in real time and in greater detail than ever before in order to improve the accuracy of cost planning and enable profitable product design from the development stage.
Initiatives that address climate change
In order to achieve virtually zero CO2 emissions in FY 2050, we think that it is important to reduce CO2 emissions in manufacturing and throughout product lifecycles and have established a strategy for doing so.
First of all, we will reduce CO2 emissions generated during production (Scope 1 + 2) by implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and by switching to renewable energy. In April 2022, we took our first step and completed the switch to renewable energy at our plants and other business locations in eastern Japan. At our subsidiaries outside of Japan, we will make this switch in stages, taking regional characteristics into account.
Additionally, large portion of the greenhouse gas emissions generated over the lifecycles of our products (Scope 1-3) are attributed to the sheet steel we procure, so we are taking steps to reduce emissions by considering a switch to using sheet steel that has been produced through more environmentally friendly methods for our products, and by developing products and establishing production techniques that use aluminum, which offers greater recyclability.
