New Year’s Top Interview: Habasit Nippon President Atsuko Takinami Speaking with Japan Rubber Weekly, President Atsuko Takinami of belt manufacturer Habasit Nippon said this year the company is embarking on a five-year plan that runs through 2020. Habasit put several products featuring new concepts onto the market in 2015. This year the firm aims to further expand sales by focusing...
New Year’s Top Interview: Lanxess K.K. President and CEO Hideo Tsuji Hideo Tsuji, president and CEO of Lanxess K.K., said in a recent interview with the Japan Rubber Weekly that a company is made up of its products and people and that his company will focus on fostering its human resources. Tsuji took over from Peter Weinmar as president and...
New Year’s Top Interview: JSR President Mitsunobu Koshiba President Mitsunobu Koshiba of JSR Corp. (TYO:4185) said recently in an interview with the Japan Rubber Weekly that his company’s future does not lie in an extension of the pattern its success has followed up to now. He instead stressed the crucial nature of nonlinear thinking. Koshiba said that an all-out effort...
New Year’s Interview: Gates Unitta Asia VP Shuji Miyamoto Shuji Miyamoto, vice president of Gates Unitta Asia Co., said in an interview with Japan Rubber Weekly that growth was sluggish during 2015 in monetary terms due to the impact of exchange rates, but expanding business volume is raising expectations for increased revenue and profit. Although automotive industry growth was anemic...
New Year’s Top Interview: Forbo Siegling Japan President Mamoru Sato Representative Director and President Mamoru Sato of Forbo Siegling Japan Ltd. said recently in an interview with the Japan Rubber Weekly that 2015 sales are forecast to increase 4–5 percent year-on-year. Profit will likely rise only marginally due to higher costs for raw materials, electricity and distribution. Despite these difficulties,...
New Year’s Top Interview: Okamoto Industries President Yoshiyuki Okamoto President Yoshiyuki Okamoto of Okamoto Industries Inc. (TYO:5122) said recently in an interview with Japan Rubber Weekly that increased capital spending had yielded results by producing good business performance in 2015. Of particular note, the company is unable to meet demand for interior automobile materials in North America as well as...
