Long-term Vision and Mid- to Long-term Management Strategy

The company has set out goals of achieving 10 billion yen sales and growing to be one of the world’s top 10 companies in the global connector industry as a long-term vision.

When it comes to our business areas, the automotive market is now going through two radical changes such as a once-in-100-years increase in a range of powertrain components as a result of global fleet electrification, the rapid expansion of communications and advanced high-speed data transmission driven by global ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) deployment for autonomous driving, and accelerated development of "flying cars." Given the situation, we now need to have a holistic view of the entire mobility market, not just the automotive market that we have been focusing so far.

Looking at the industrial market, the rapid expansion of the AI market and further deployment of energy management systems, as well as an increase of FA (Factory Automation) equipment and robots for automation and labor-saving, are all expected.

We are taking such changes in both markets as an excellent opportunity to expand our connector business through leveraging our unique technologies for three-directional floating and high-capacity data transmission, and so on. Our key strategy is to expand our business into globally growing markets. Through taking a strategic approach of proactive marketing that anticipates customer needs and takes steps to meet them before they arise, as well as a customer-centric sales approach that meets all their needs and wants, we are aiming to develop products that exceed customer expectations by empowering connections we offer to them. When it comes to production and supply chain as well, we will optimize group plant operations based on our global information network, use a centralized and multiple purchasing system, promote local raw material sourcing at all group plants, expand in-house manufacturing and increase production efficiency to improve our global QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery).

We will make sure to capture such market trends and grow to be the world’s top 10 players in the connector industry to increase our business scale and to build a stronger brand identity, as well as to win new global customers.

Mid-Term Management Goals

During the three-year mid-term management plan period from FY2024 to 2026 (ending March 2025 to March 2027), which are seen as years for solidifying our business foundation to overcome our ongoing challenges and to return to a growth track, we have set goals of 65 billion yen sales and an operating profit margin of over 15% to be met by the fiscal year ending March 2027.

Looking at our business scale-up strategies by market, we will accelerate sales for electric vehicles (xEVs) as their global sales volume has been growing. We will also focus on monitoring and analyzing the trends of the automotive centralized control ECU (Electric Control Unit) market to bring our products into the market. Besides, during the three-year period, we will solidify our business foundation to increase our sales in the sensor (camera) and industrial markets, in which our sales have declined so far, and focus our efforts on these markets to drive sales expansion starting from 2027.

To bolster our manufacturing, we will fully commit to increasing productivity and plant utilization rate, as well as reducing costs to improve profitability through sharing equipment and toolings across the group plants, expanding in-house tooling manufacturing, cutting material costs and applying value engineering (VE) in the design phase.

【Mid-Term Management Goals】

Key Focus Strategies

During the "mid-term management plan" period, we will work on the following strategic priorities:

• Preparing the ground for a shift from "IRISO for automotive" to "IRISO for mobility"

  ・Powertrain market:

  ·  Expanding our global business and improving the performance of our high-current, vibration-resistant and heat-resistant connectors

  ・Automotive centralized control ECU market:

  Along with high-speed BtoB connectors, and expanding the product line with scalable WtoB (Wire to Board) connectors for automotive centralized control ECU

  ・Sensor market:

  Rebuilding our camera business through collaborative product development, and winning new customers

• Increasing our global presence in the industrial Market – Preparing the road ahead to scale up our second pillar business in the future

  ・Winning new customers and increasing our market share, mainly by supplying our high-speed floating BtoB connector, expanding to new sales channels through working with distributers, and developing our product range through outsourcing procurement

  ・Winning new customers by global talent hiring of FAEs (Field Application Engineers), and bolstering local sales teams

  ・Entering to the chipmaking equipment and energy management system markets

• Reviewing our global production system, and ensuring equipment and tooling standardization to improve productivity and capital efficiency 

  ・Reviewing the company’s entire manufacturing system and the role of each group plant ahead of Akita plant launch, continuing to promote local consumption of local products, and improving production efficiency through the company-wide deployment of MES (Manufacturing Execution System)

  ・Increasing productivity in product, equipment and tooling design by digital transformation (DX), sharing equipment and toolings across the group plants and expanding in-house tooling manufacturing

  ・Minimizing material costs by promoting local sourcing and centralized purchasing, and reducing the volume of resins, plating, etc., used to make each connector

• Bolstering value-based management with a focus on the cost of capital and stock price

  ・Achieving ROIC that exceeds the cost of capital, and improving investment efficiency by creating an optimal capital structure

  ・Keeping the balance between growth investments and shareholder returns to improve profit returns to shareholders, with the target of a dividend payout ratio (DPR) of over 40%, or a dividend on equity (DOE) ratio of around 5%.

• Continuing to develop sustainable management

  ・Ensuring sustainable management that supports people and the environment: Promoting renewable energy for electricity, waste recycling and reuse

  ・Fostering workplace diversity and inclusion: Diversifying board members and management employees, and embracing diverse employee work styles and conditions to improve employee engagement

  ・Improving management foundation: bolstering global risk management, developing a digital infrastructure in management, and improving corporate security