Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 15

COOLSCOPE
Digital฀microscope฀with฀numerous฀user-
friendly฀operational฀features
ECLIPSE฀90i
Advanced฀research฀microscope฀perfect฀
for฀the฀life฀sciences฀with฀enhanced฀
performance,฀the฀facilitation฀of฀digital฀
image฀observation฀and฀recording,฀and฀
system฀expandability
NEX I V฀V M R - H3030฀Z120X
CNC฀video฀measuring฀system฀for฀high-
magnifi฀cation,฀high-speed,฀high-precision฀
measurements฀(NEXIV฀VMR-H3030TZ฀in฀
Japan)
NRM -3100
Overlay฀measuring฀system฀that฀supports฀a฀
90฀nm฀lithography฀process฀with฀300฀mm฀
IC฀wafers
Hidetoshi฀Mori
Executive฀Offi฀cer,
President฀of฀Instruments฀Company
scopes.฀In฀Japan,฀we฀are฀working฀alongside฀researchers฀
from฀leading฀public฀universities฀to฀ascertain฀which฀
future฀avenues฀of฀research฀will฀be฀the฀most฀important.฀
Information฀on฀such฀trends฀can฀then฀be฀incorporated฀
in฀our฀product฀development฀programs.฀In฀essence,฀we฀
have฀changed฀the฀entire฀emphasis฀of฀our฀product฀devel-
opment฀at฀Nikon.฀Before,฀it฀was฀technology-oriented;฀
now,฀it฀is฀customer-oriented.฀I฀believe฀this฀change฀in฀
focus฀will฀translate฀into฀products฀that฀add฀more฀value฀
for฀customers.฀The฀new฀systematic฀approach฀to฀creating฀
attractiveness฀in฀our฀product฀range฀will฀help฀us฀to฀raise฀
profi฀tability.
One฀of฀the฀fi฀rst฀products฀to฀emerge฀from฀this฀new฀
development฀process฀was฀the฀COOLSCOPE฀digital฀
microscope,฀which฀went฀on฀sale฀in฀the฀year฀ended฀
March฀2004.฀Rather฀than฀the฀traditional฀eyepiece฀lens฀
system,฀the฀COOLSCOPE฀uses฀digital฀images฀displayed฀
on฀a฀monitor.฀The฀advantages฀of฀this฀innovation฀are฀
that฀teams฀of฀people฀can฀view฀the฀images฀in฀the฀labo-
ratory.฀In฀addition,฀since฀they฀are฀digitally฀created,฀the฀
images฀can฀also฀be฀transmitted฀over฀a฀network,฀which฀
is฀particularly฀useful฀for฀applications฀such฀as฀remote฀
consultations฀or฀online฀tuition.฀The฀COOLSCOPE฀was฀
the฀result฀of฀our฀designers฀and฀other฀development฀
staff฀working฀directly฀with฀customers฀to฀discover฀
their฀needs.฀It฀also฀marked฀a฀successful฀collaborative฀
effort฀with฀Nikon฀Imaging฀Company.฀The฀result฀is฀an฀
attractive฀product฀at฀a฀competitive฀price.฀COOLSCOPE฀
achieved฀more฀than฀double฀the฀initial฀annual฀sales฀
target฀in฀a฀mere฀nine฀months.
During฀the฀year฀we฀also฀completely฀revised฀and฀
updated฀our฀leading฀ranges฀of฀biological฀microscopes.฀
With฀the฀ECLIPSE฀i-series,฀we฀upgraded฀basic฀functions฀
and฀boosted฀operability฀while฀also฀converting฀them฀
to฀digital.฀This฀resulted฀in฀a฀major฀improvement฀in฀
peripheral฀areas฀of฀the฀fi฀eld฀of฀vision฀in฀terms฀of฀image฀
smoothness.฀This฀was฀also฀the฀result฀of฀the฀application฀
of฀Nikon’s฀competitive฀strengths฀in฀digital฀imaging฀
technology.
Turning฀to฀industrial฀microscopes,฀in฀June฀2004฀
we฀launched฀the฀ECLIPSE฀L300฀and฀L300D฀models,฀
which฀are฀designed฀to฀handle฀the฀inspection฀of฀
300฀mm฀IC฀wafers฀and฀LCD฀panels.฀In฀this฀fi฀eld,฀the฀
market฀is฀moving฀toward฀digitalization฀and฀increased฀
panel฀sizes.฀Our฀product฀development฀programs฀
are฀focused฀on฀these฀trends,฀and฀I฀believe฀this฀is฀an฀
area฀with฀good฀earnings฀growth฀potential.฀In฀both฀
semiconductor฀inspection฀equipment฀and฀our฀NEXIV฀
CNC฀video฀measuring฀systems,฀the฀key฀is฀to฀achieve฀
high฀measurement฀precision฀together฀with฀improved฀
image-processing฀technology.฀In฀this฀area,฀we฀are฀in฀a฀
solutions฀business.฀By฀continuing฀to฀refi฀ne฀our฀image-
processing฀technology,฀we฀can฀provide฀solutions฀that฀
the฀market฀will฀want.
Indicators฀point฀to฀a฀market฀recovery฀in฀inspec-
tion฀equipment฀for฀semiconductors฀and฀LCDs,฀and฀I฀
see฀the฀industrial฀segment฀leading฀our฀sales฀growth฀
in฀the฀short฀term.฀To฀reduce฀costs฀further,฀we฀plan฀to฀
raise฀production฀capacity฀at฀our฀microscope฀produc-
tion฀facility฀in฀China฀(Nanjing฀Nikon฀Jiangnan฀Optical฀
Instrument฀Co.,฀Ltd.).฀We฀also฀plan฀to฀upgrade฀our฀
marketing฀and฀after-sales฀customer฀service฀capabilities฀
in฀the฀potentially฀huge฀Chinese฀market฀through฀a฀local฀
subsidiary฀that฀we฀established฀in฀August฀2003฀(Nikon฀
Instruments฀(Shanghai)฀Co.,฀Ltd.).
In฀biological฀microscopes,฀all฀the฀signs฀are฀that฀
capital฀investment฀in฀bioscience฀is฀on฀a฀rising฀trend฀in฀
major฀markets,฀in฀both฀the฀public฀and฀private฀sec-
tors.฀We฀are฀actively฀engaged฀in฀R&D฀to฀create฀a฀new฀
market฀for฀products฀that฀enable฀researchers฀to฀study฀
living฀cells฀in฀detail.฀Overall,฀our฀objective฀is฀to฀increase฀
sales฀and฀profi฀tability฀by฀transforming฀the฀Instruments฀
Company฀into฀an฀aggressively฀development-oriented฀
enterprise.
Image฀of฀living฀cell:฀the฀mitochondria฀and฀nucleus฀of฀
HeLa฀cell฀stained฀with฀fl฀uorescent฀protein฀taken฀with฀
a฀fl฀uorescent฀deconvolution฀microscope
(Image฀courtesy฀of฀Associate฀Professor฀Seiji฀Yamamoto,฀
Hamamatsu฀University฀School฀of฀Medicine฀Photon฀Medical฀
Research฀Center)
13