I am happy to start the New Year with you and deliver my New Year message for 2020 on this occasion. Since I am determined to make this a year of further growth for SWS and its group companies, I ask for your continued cooperation and commitment.

Currently the automobile industry is facing a great change as represented by CASE and we must rise above this tough situation. To this end, I am determined to join forces with you to achieve the two goals that I have shared since I became president: To make SWS the most vigorous company worth working for in the world and to make SWS a company that all automobile companies in the world consider irreplaceable.

Toward these goals, I ask you to commit yourselves to the following three points:

The first request is to further promote the efforts for zero injuries under the business policy that safety takes precedence over everything else. The prerequisite for zero injuries is zero hazards; therefore, I want you to also address zero hazards this year with determination, courage, and persistence.

Zero hazards and zero injuries cannot be achieved unless the safety awareness is penetrated into all employees as a corporate culture and climate. I ask executives, managers, and supervisors to conduct thorough safety education particularly at new bases and for new employees, and eliminate unsafe conditions and behavior from the workplace and ensure the implementation of remedial measures with a firm determination that we will realize a workplace where no injuries could occur and where no hazards could exist. I also ask each one of you to boost safety awareness and sensitivity to hazards.

The second request is to continue activities to shorten the lead-time in all departments. The sales, design, R&D, and other clerical departments are also required the activities to reduce muda(waste), muri(overburden), and mura(unevenness), improve quality of operations, and shorten setup time, such as coordination. If lead-time can be shortened through these activities, it will lead to further cost reduction and eventually to building trust in our relationships with clients. For this year, I ask executives, managers, and supervisors to further intensify such activities while providing support to speed up operations.

The third request is to continue our bottom-up via top-down efforts for creating an airy workplace. Superiors and subordinates should join forces with one another to make the company a place worth working for through self-realization and contribution to clients and society, where every employee can give his/her ability full play and feel vigor through the manufacture of better products.

Last, With a keen awareness that a natural disaster can occur at any time, not when least expected, I ask each one of you to develop preventive measures, including worst-case scenarios in advance and raise disaster prevention awareness so that the safety of all employees can be secured in the event of an emergency.