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 | The 20th century saw Sharp beat other companies in introducing products like radios and televisions. Upon entering the 21st century, I once again asked myself what kind of company we should be and how we can be a company that provides value to society. |
| The answer to these questions is: Contribute to society by introducing completely new products and making the world more enjoyable and rich. This will make us a company known for providing value to society. |
| To do this, I have reaffirmed our commitment to sticking to the "roots of manufacturing" -- to emphasize development technology, which allows us to develop totally new products, and manufacturing technology, which allows us to efficiently manufacture these products and bring them to consumers. |
| After the 1985 Plaza Accord that saw the start of the rise of the yen, Japanese manufacturers have moved operations overseas in efforts to find the most cost-effective locations for manufacturing. This movement not only transferred a wealth of manufacturing technology overseas, but also perhaps prevented Japanese manufacturers from developing new manufacturing technology as fast as they could have. |
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| I believe that Japanese electronics manufacturers should return to the roots of manufacturing and push the limits of the industry in the 21st century. Japan should, without a doubt, base its economy on a foundation of technology and manufacturing. |
| It is through this that manufacturing operations will return to Japan and the country will once again be known as one that makes products for the world.
We are not saying we will make everything in Japan -- we must carry out the development and manufacturing of products that are uniquely Japanese, uniquely Sharp, here in Japan. |
| The biggest obstacle facing us is the problem of Japan's high wages; the highest in the world, in fact. However, more and more product parts are LSI chips, and with fewer parts as well the manufacturing process is being shortened. This brings added value and means that labor costs make up less of total manufacturing costs. Even today, Japan remains number one in the world in quality control and manufacturing control. Add to this information technology and you will see the reappearance of a strong manufacturing industry. |
| For example, Sharp develops and manufactures all of its latest LCD televisions (called the Aquos in Japan) in our plant in Yaita City in Tochigi Prefecture. The percentage of manufacturing unit cost taken up by labor costs is just 3% or 4% for Sharp's domestic LCD television production. |
| In addition to falling labor costs, reductions in transportation costs for Japanese-made parts, shortened lead time with the introduction of SCM (supply chain management), and the efficiencies brought on by mass production all add up to an advantage for manufacturing in Japan. |
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