Nikon 2016 Annual Report Download - page 36

We will not be limited by our business domains,
and will proactively engage in elds where there are
thought to be business opportunities and cultivate
the business pillars of the future.
Masao Nakajima
Senior Vice President
General Manager of Industrial Metrology Business Unit
Message
Q How would you summarize the scal year ended March 31, 2016?
In the scal year ended March 31, 2016, the Industrial Metrology Business posted record-high sales. There was also
a signicant increase in operating income and, although not yet at a satisfactory level, I feel that our growth rate was
commendable. The main factor contributing to this growth was the underlying strength from increased domestic
capital investment in electronic component, semiconductor, and automotive industries, which manifested itself as a
cost improvement effect. We have continued to make a large number of product approaches, especially in the auto-
motive industry, over the past few years, and these are beginning to appear as concrete results. The primary prob-
lem was that the sales targets for Nikon Metrology* products in the Asian market have not yet been achieved. Even
in Europe, there are sales targets that remain slightly unachieved. Having been positioned as a growth business
under the Medium-Term Management Plan, if viewed from a medium- to long-term perspective there is still insuf-
cient dynamism, and I have the sense that the business will have to be further expanded.
* NIKON Metrology NV (formerly Metris NV), the Belgian manufacturer of precision measuring equipment with strengths in the measurement
of large objects, such as automobiles and aircraft, was made a wholly owned subsidiary in 2009.
Q Two years have passed since the reorganization of the corporate structure. Please tell
us what was accomplished in those two years and the issues that emerged.
Initially, in the rst year we aimed to return to prot and implemented various measures, but from the second
year we went on the offensive and weak areas were converted into prioritized objectives to be strengthened.
Consequently, results from unique Nikon products are gradually starting to materialize. For example, the
high-precision, non-contact multi-sensor 3D metrology system HN-C3030 has continued to solidify its position as
dedicated equipment mainly for the inspection of automotive gears and turbo-engine parts. In Japan, there is also
growing interest in the non-contact, large volume inspection system Laser Radar that measures automobile bodies
and has been a major force in the U.S. market, and the possibility has emerged that this interest will soon lead
to domestic sales.
Having in 2015 opened showrooms one after the other in Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico, where the production
bases of automotive and other industries have coalesced, the effects of having improved brand recognition and
worked on local sales are beginning to produce results. Only having showrooms, however, will end up limiting us to
local customers. I thus consider it to be of great importance to inform not only those customers in the vicinity of a
showroom but more customers about Nikon products and solutions.
Industrial Metrology Business Unit
INSTRUMENTS BUSINESS
34 NIKON REPORT 2016