Provide us with an overview of the EMS business and current situation

This strategy is the opposite of major overseas EMS companies that are responsible for mass production of specific products, but we are building up experience in areas where Japan boasts high competitiveness, which include high-end products such as info-communication, measurement, industry/FA, infrastructure, medical care, electrical components, and aerospace.

What values are provided to customers?

KishiWe use the word "virtual factory" to describe the form OKI's EMS is targeting. This means providing customers with an EMS that is as easy to use as their own factory. Several measures have been launched to enhance the virtual factory's ease-of-use and satisfaction.
We are moving forward with "factory visualization," so that customers can check the production status of their outsourced products online. We already offer visualization service of the delivery date called "Advanced Navi," but we will improve usability to make it available to more customers. We are also thinking of "smart existing equipment" as a measure to reduce capital investment and further cut costs. The idea is for us to improve existing equipment and make them smarter rather than relying entirely on the latest equipment for efficiency and advanced production.
Additionally, we are pursuing "concurrent engineering (*3)" to provide values such as cost optimization from the design stage and shortening of product development period. Recently, not only have we received production outsourcing from customers but have also been approached by venture companies stating "We also want to outsource circuit design and hardware manufacturing design." Therefore, we are planning on providing mono-zukuri support to customers that do not have experience with mass production.

EMS is still a new business within OKI. Isn't work necessary to raise awareness?

KishiThat's right. In fact, when I took up my current post back in April 2018, what struck me the most was although each of the group companies involved with EMS possessed outstanding technology and knowledge,lateral collaboration was not going well. Therefore, we launched the "cross-organizational project" to strengthen collaboration within the group according to task, and the first thing we started with was the reform of sales operations including promotional activities.

NozueSpecifically, we are working on two major initiatives. First of all, with the aim of strengthening advertising, we have actively made joint exhibits at specialized exhibitions. This makes it easy for group companies inexperienced with exhibitions to put out exhibits, and makes it easier to promote the strengths of the entire group. Furthermore, those who attend special exhibitions are our potential customers, so there are advantages in terms of sales efficiency.
The other is the active development of organizational sales that introduce customers of EMS group companies to each other with the customers' consent. This serves to appeal the group's entire business and ties in with digging up customer demands other than those already on hand.

KishiWe believe the benefits of raising the EMS Group's unity are enormous. In order to promote group synergy, the presidents of each company meet every other month for a discussion, and the cross-organizational project will be expanded to other tasks such as production, design, procurement, and maintenance.

How about EMS business collaboration = co-creation with external organizations?

Nozue"Co-creation with customers" is the underlining business of EMS to begin with, and considering that we will put more effort into total mono-zukuri support instead of mere production outsourcing, our relationship with customers will grow even stronger.
On the other hand, from the perspective of improving production technology, there are cases where we will work jointly with various manufacturers for equipment introduced to the plants. These companies can also be called co-creation partners. Additionally, in order to flexibly respond to the diversifying customer needs, we are considering forming partnerships with specific outside companies that have technologies and manufacturing capabilities not available within OKI.

KishiCooperation with other OKI business groups is also an important topic to be considered. For example, introducing various technologies possessed by the ICT and Mechatronics Systems Business Groups to EMS Business Group customers or the EMS Business Group responding to customers' requests that other business groups are having difficulty with. We want to draw out "OKI Group synergy" that goes beyond the boundaries of the EMS Group.

Tell us the future prospects of EMS and your enthusiasm for business expansion.

KishiGiven the diversifying consumer needs and declining labor force, outsourcing demand for mono-zukuri, especially the need for high-mix low-volume production, will likely continue to grow. By firmly grasping the current trend, we will contribute to more customers and extend results. Our immediate plan is to achieve sales of 100 billion yen in the 2022 fiscal year, and we intend to gain a solid foothold as OKI's fourth supporting pillar following the ICT, mechatronics systems and printer businesses.
Moreover, we have gathered our younger employees and started a project to draw a vision of what OKI's EMS should be in 10 years. We have high hopes that talents who will be responsible for the future will grow centering on those members to further develop the EMS business.