As Sumitomo Wiring Systems has been developing business activities around the world, jointing managing 80 group companies in 27 countries with Sumitomo Electric Industries, it is necessary to unite the total capabilities of the group in order to gain results in severe global competition. To this end, it has become more and more important for SWS executives, partners, and associates of the company's overseas businesses, and senior management of the group companies to share the group's visions and management issues, share the same thinking, and clearly understand the issues each company is addressing. The SWS Harness Partners & Top Executives' Global Conference has been held once a year since 2002 to help meet these objectives, and the conference marked its fourth anniversary this year.

Under the slogan of "achieving the "Global 20" (a 20% share of the world's wiring harnesses market) by 2010," we set four main themes for the 4th conference. SWS executives and the senior general managers representing each group made presentations at the conference.

	I.	Promoting a thorough understanding of the direction (vision and management issues) of the SWS group
	II.	Promoting the "world- uniform, best productivity and quality manufacturing" by making the most of global benchmarking.
	III.	Fostering of human resources to strengthen the SWS group's global systems.
	IV.	Strengthening reliable relationships with partners and associates.

The SWS group is promoting inter-group competitions, through global benchmarks, to upgrade the businesses of the whole group. At the yearly conference, to strengthen motivation, we assess and communicate the rank and contributions of each company in the group on quality and productivity, as measured objectively from multiple aspects, and we give awards to recognize companies with excellent results.

To drive the prompt realization of the group's management objectives, the SWS group regularly holds international meetings for staff functions, including personnel, accounting, information systems, and procurement, in countries around the world. Through activities such as the Skill Olympic Games, the SWS group strives to improve operators' skills in the actual manufacturing sites. We also strive to reinforce our competitiveness in all the layers of its operations around the world.

The SWS group's major management issues are the expansion of overseas businesses and globalization, in its truest sense. We find opportunities to communicate, such as the Harness Partners & Top Executives' Global Conference, extremely useful in smoothly developing the group's overseas businesses, and we will continue developing the conference.