Nikon 2015 Annual Report Download - page 21

of our new system now surpasses that of competitor’s products. At the present time,
we are focusing on two areas: further enhancing the support we provide to customers
after equipment delivery and shortening the lead times needed to build mass produc-
tion systems at customer production sites. In September 2014, part of the newly
established Customer Solutions Department was formed into a unit dedicated to prob-
lem solving jointly with customers to realize in particular prompt post-delivery perfor-
mance verication. In addition to providing support from the customer’s standpoint,
we aim to gain repeat orders by offering actual on-site performance verication.
Q Please tell us the background to the cost reductions.
We recognize that manufacturing costs are one of the important areas of efciency for
an item of equipment, and we are improving specic measures designed to realize
further cost reductions. The rst measure entails the rebuilding of an optimal produc-
tion system that also covers our suppliers. It is essential for us to determine to what
extent we should manufacture an item in house, and which components would be
appropriate to consign to our suppliers. We built this framework in the year ended
March 31, 2015. The second measure involves reducing initial production costs. The
development costs of our current ArF immersion scanner were still high, so the key was
to discover how to hold down initial costs. To bring our plan to fruition, we needed to
proceed with the design, prototype manufacture, and initial mass production concur-
rently, even while we conducted trial-and-error testing. When manufacturing the most
advanced equipment utilizing specialized components is necessary, it is difcult to
keep costs in check, but we will continue to achieve our plan through the cooperation
gained through long-standing partnerships with our suppliers.
Q Please tell us about upcoming challenges and the themes on which
you will be focusing in the years ahead.
The development of semiconductor lithography systems requires very thorough spe-
cialist knowledge and a broad view to designing large-scale systems from the perspec-
tive of total optimization. The extent to which we are able to foster and cultivate the
human resources that possess those attributes is becoming a challenge.
To quickly respond to the innovative materials and peripheral equipment that have
emerged as semiconductors have evolved, I believe it is possible to reect even more
detailed needs in the systems by strengthening collaboration with the customer from
the initial stages of semiconductor development.
While further extending the strengths that Nikon possesses in hardware, I am won-
dering how we could raise hardware capabilities at customer production sites. The
improvement of software development capabilities will be required in the years ahead.
The policies of strengthening collaboration between organizational structures and sup-
pliers as well as establishing new strengths will continue. I believe the initiatives
involved in transforming from a business that simply markets products to a business
model that provides solutions to be of the utmost importance.
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NIKON REPORT 2015
ArF scanner NSR-S322F
ArF immersion scanner NSR-S630D
Business Strategy