Fumikiyo Uchioke, President

In last year's New Year speech, I declared the kickoff of the "17 Vision" project, and asked you to visualize the ideal state that we should be at in fiscal 2017 and formulate an action policy to shape it. From this year on, we will determine specific activities based on the action policy formulated in each division, and proceed to full-scale implementation.

To begin the above process, please take special note of the following two viewpoints. One is the "viewpoint of groupwide optimization". The target of the "17 Vision" project can never be achieved unless all the power of the entire SWS group is combined. I ask you to think of what each division or each group company should do from the viewpoint of groupwide optimization when implementing activities. The other is the "viewpoint of market-in". I ask you to research what customers want, and think of what we should do to satisfy customers through activities.

In light of the above, I will make three requests this year.

The first request is to promote specific activities to achieve 'No. 1 Development Capabilities'.
Technological and price-reduction requirements have become more demanding as customer needs have diversified. Accordingly, there is more competition in the recent market. To keep ahead of this competition, it is requested that sales and development divisions and other relevant divisions cooperate more closely than ever to understand customer needs for products, technologies and costs quickly and accurately, and propel these into action at the earliest stage possible.

The second request is to promote specific activities to achieve 'No. 1 Manufacturing Capabilities'.
As emphasis is increasingly placed on product costs in competition to receive orders, the future development of the SWS Group cannot progress unless we improve cost competitiveness. When we look to the business environment surrounding the SWS Group, there are many factors that result in increased costs, such as increase in manufacturing costs due to sharp rise in labor costs, appreciation of the yen to the highest level in the history, and steep rise in raw material costs. It is requested that each division establish measures for cost reduction as an urgent priority issue, and implement these measures immediately.

The third request is to promote specific activities to achieve 'No. 1 Human Resource Cultivation Capabilities'.
Human resources are essential to improve development capabilities and manufacturing capabilities. I ask you to create a healthy workplace that serves as our basis of human resource cultivation. I believe that a healthy workplace is a thoughtful and cheerful workplace with vigorous communication between and among superiors and colleagues. To have each employee exercise their ability to the fullest, it is necessary to create a working environment where they can be dedicated to their work in a pleasant environment. I expect that not only managers and supervisors, but also all employees become conscious about creating a healthy workplace.