2022

I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year.

Last year was a year of instability and drastic changes to our business environment, from the resurgence of COVID-19 to the global shortage of semiconductors. Even in such a situation, it was also a year that brought increased momentum toward carbon neutrality. Governments and businesses from Japan to countries around the world accelerated their efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions and save energy.

Our bearings and other products are environmentally friendly products. By reducing friction and energy loss, they contribute to energy saving and CO₂ reduction for society as a whole. Going forward, we will further promote initiatives for carbon neutrality not only in the supplying of products, but also in areas such as management, manufacturing, R&D, and procurement. We aim to be a company that is essential to a sustainable society.

This year, we will focus on the following initiatives.

In management, we will strengthen our ESG initiatives to ensure sustainable growth. We will set materiality-related goals (KGI) and KPIs. From this year, we will work to achieve these targets. In addition, in May last year, as part of our activities to respond to climate change, we announced our support for the TCFD recommendations. With our products, we will contribute to the development of renewable energy markets and to automotive electrification. In addition, we will promote carbon neutrality efforts in areas such as production and procurement. We will conduct scenario analysis of the risks and opportunities posed by climate change to our business to reflect these insights into our management strategies and business activities.

In each of our businesses, we improve profitability by reducing fixed costs and lowering variable costs through procurement reforms. We drive transformation toward a financial structure that enables us to secure stable profits so as not to be too affected by demand.

In the aftermarket business, we work for steady expansion in sales by strengthening our supply capabilities. We adopted “FIRST,” an inventory management system for standard products. Using the system, which went into full-scale operation last spring, we aim to streamline distribution and expand our inventory. In this way we are building a prompt delivery system that responds quickly to changes in demand. In addition, we are expanding our business by developing businesses that combine products and services. These include remote technical support and services that use NTN PORTABLE VIBROSCOPE to detect bearing errors.

In the industrial machinery business, we aim to expand earnings steadily by responding to rapid recovery in demand in key fields, including construction machinery and agricultural machinery. The field of wind power generation is expected to record market growth under the trend of carbon neutrality. We work to expand our business in this field by further strengthening development of our condition monitoring services as well as ultra-large bearings for wind turbines.

In the automotive business, we emphasize NTN's advanced technological capabilities to expand sales of axles and CVJs for EVs. We also focus on the development of high-performance products for EVs that combine core technologies and systems. In addition, we are building a production system that can respond effectively when demand recovers.

In research and development, we accelerate our activities in fields where future growth is expected. In particular, in the area of services and solutions, we work to build a new business model that combines hardware (products) and software (services), such as strengthening monitoring services by using sensors for bearings.

This year, NTN will concentrate on building a strong structure by focusing on improving our earnings and planting the seeds for future growth, with the aim of being a company that is essential in a changing society and contributing to realize a sustainable “NAMERAKA Society” where people can easily lead a secure and fulfilling life in harmony with nature.

In closing, I wish each of you and your families a happy and healthy New Year.

Eiichi Ukai
Director, Representative Executive Officer
President, Executive Officer, CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
NTN Corporation