All of our business activities are carried out based on our corporate philosophy which consists of our mission, vision and values.

We will make the most of our potential and engage in sustainable business activities by firmly carrying out our mission, “to make the best quality available for everyone,” while fulfilling our universal role and commitment to society.

When people hear the word “quality,” there may be some who recall quality as a product specification. At Proterial, however, we create new value not only for products, but also through our commitment to original technology and high quality in products, business processes, and people. We define “making the best quality available for everyone” as providing products widely to people around the world, including our customers, and this is shared by all employees, from the frontline factory sites to back office areas.

To deliver value to our customers, it is important to closely understand their needs and create the various forms of added value they desire. To that end, we understand that both sales departments, which are in direct contact with customers, as well as the research and development and production departments must work together to create value.

Making the best quality available for everyone is important not only for our customers, but also for our employees. Companies are required to take responsibility for the development of their human resources and place the right people in the right positions so that each and every human resource can fully demonstrate their abilities. Each and every one of us must be able to fully understand our role in making the best quality available for everyone and embody our mission as their own assigned role. To that end, we must give opportunities to all employees so that they can maximize their potential. This is our obligation as leaders.

Aware that we are a member of the local community, we will also fulfill our responsibility for the sustainability of the global environment by striving to reduce the Companyʼs CO₂ emissions. At the same time, we will focus on creating employment opportunities in each region where we operate. I would like us to be recognized as a company that contributes to society and develops together with the local community by building relationships of trust. Since taking office as president, I have visited various work sites and held town hall meetings not only in Japan, but also at various global bases. A question that employees would raise without fail on such occasions was the Companyʼs policy on securing a workforce. Developed countries are facing the common social issue of a declining working population as their populations age. It is vitally important for us to be actively involved in the local community so that we can sustainably maintain and secure excellent human resources.

Recognizing that our products help customers resolve environmental problems, I call our company a “Green Enabler.” With this in mind, we are working to transform the global environment and society in a sustainable manner.

The global trend toward decarbonization represents a major opportunity for our company, which owns what I call world-class business assets that contribute to weight savings, reductions in CO₂ emissions, and safety improvements. While for the most part, people have few opportunities to observe our brand products first hand, these products are indispensable for a substantial number of end products, including automobiles, railroad cars, aircraft, and smartphones as well as for the machinery and infrastructure used to manufacture them. For example, there are cladding materials and soft magnetic materials that, despite their extremely small size, reduce the heat dissipation of smartphones and PCs and contribute to improving energy efficiency. Our rare earth magnets used in electric vehicle (EV) drive motors and the power electronics products used in power supply circuits also greatly contribute to improving efficiency. In this regard, we are proud to say that our products are used in a significant number of xEVs.

In light of the diverse range of business opportunities, we will place particular emphasis on aerospace applications going forward. I feel confident that we will be able to develop new pillars of business growth by making the most of our world-class assets, including the Yasugi Works, which has a world-class vacuum melting furnace, and the Okegawa Works, which has a large ring mill.

In addition, we are accelerating the execution of business strategies by making full use of the management resources and knowledge of our capital partners. For example, to develop our aircraft business, we are being provided with global information networks, knowledge, and human resources while promoting comparisons with competitors in the aerospace market and the formulation and implementation of strategic product roadmaps.

The “Pro” portion of our company name, Proterial, represents our three pros-professional, progressive, and proactive-but in particular I would like to carry out my duties progressively with the will to continue to take on challenges. Where do those future business opportunities lie? What are the possibilities and barriers there? While always looking forward and thinking about what to do, we will speedily execute our business strategies and put into practice “making the best quality available for everyone” for our customers and other stakeholders.

At a time when society as a whole is oriented toward sustainability, Proterial is overflowing with opportunities for global growth. Following our own growth path, we will increase our corporate value globally as a company leading sustainability by high performance. Please expect to see great things from Proterial in the years to come.