Medium- to Long-Term Strategy and Challenges to Address
To continue growing and developing, it will be essential for the Ryobi Group to reinforce its competitiveness and increase its earnings power.
The Ryobi Group is implementing a range of initiatives to provide unique technologies, products, and services and thereby further enhance its presence in the fields of its businesses.
In addition, we aim to become an even more resilient company capable of adapting to changes in the business environment and securing stable profit. To this end, we push ahead with ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing our quality assurance and technological development capabilities as well as achieving higher productivity. At the same time, we continuously engage in proactive marketing while striving to make our products and services even more attractive.
Moreover, we not only pursue profit but push ahead with initiatives to reduce the environmental footprint of our operations. Through these efforts, we will step up ESG-oriented business management.
The Direction of Our Businesses
Die Castings Business
It is said that the automotive industry, the main customer sector for Ryobi's Die Castings Business, is undergoing a revolutionary, once-in-a-century change. In particular, needs for weight saving are growing in step with advances in the four technological trends—Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric—summarized as CASE and with ever tightening regulations on fuel efficiency. Accordingly, demand for offerings currently constituting the Ryobi Group's mainstay lineup could change in the future.
Backed by a development and supply system that meet s customer needs around the world, Ryobi aims to become a global automobile part supplier.
With manufacturing bases in Japan, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, and Thailand, Ryobi is leveraging its know-how as a world-leading die casting manufacturer to reinforce its relationships with automobile companies. We are reinforcing our sales capabilities, developing new production methods, increasing price competitiveness, promoting the automation of production sites, and working to improve productivity while expanding orders received worldwide. Although the Japanese automobile market is expected to shrink over the medium to long term, overseas markets are expected to expand. While considering profitability, Ryobi is proactively advancing sales activity and making capital investment.
Aluminum die castings are highly recyclable, lightweight and highly durable. They are attracting attention as an effective technology for reducing the weight of automobiles and thus helping to conserve energy and resources . Going forward, the Ryobi Group will focus even more on developing high-quality, high-value-added products in this area. With an eye to the growing shift to electric vehicles, we are developing new production techniques to meet needs for weight savings while developing power train and electrical components for next-generation vehicles. At the same time, we are actively working to promote the use of die castings in the chassis and underbody.
Builders' Hardware Business
In Japan, the primary market region for the Builders' Hardware Business, the residential housing market is expected to shrink gradually over the long term. Moreover, the building market is likely to be affected by a decline in office demand due to the spread of remote working.
As the leader in the Japanese door closer market, we are advancing product development aimed at making products easier to install and more pleasant to use while improving profitability. Seeking to maximize both the functionality and design of our mainstay door closers and sliding door closers, we are developing high-quality new products to satisfy our customers in the commercial building and residential markets. Simultaneously, we are meticulously working to incorporate requests from installers as we work to further increase our market share.
In addition, we are working to build optimized manufacturing systems in order to expand our domestic market share and increase responsiveness to customers. We are also striving to enhance our overseas sales platforms.
Printing Equipment Business
With regard to the Printing Equipment Business, Ryobi expects to be impacted by the growing trend toward paperless operations while facing even stronger needs for labor-saving solutions. On the other hand, demand is projected to remain robust for package printing and other high-value-added printing services.
Under the banner of "IRODORI—Coloring the World Together," we aim to provide innovative technology alongside top-quality printing presses and services around the world, helping to create a brighter, more vibrant society.
To this end, we develop and manufacture environmentally friendly products, centered on our extensive lineup of sheet-fed offset printing presses. We offer a wide selection of sizes, functions, and specifications and conduct sales all around the world. In addition, we are working to expand sales in the online printing service and package printing markets, where demand is growing, and turning our attention toward automated printing-related operations in order to provide optimal solutions that meet the needs of customers in and outside Japan. At the same time, we continue to focus on creating stronger bonds of trust by enhancing our proposal capabilities and providing reliable services in the printing industry .
Power Tools Business
Notes regarding the Transfer of the Power Tools Business for Consumers