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We will promote rational business management by
realizing efcient new product development and
strengthening collaboration with customers.
Toshikazu Umatate
Senior Vice President
General Manager of Semiconductor Lithography Business Unit
Message
Q How would you summarize the scal year ended March 31, 2016?
In the semiconductor market, capital investment was favorable overall, but the environment in which the Company’s
Semiconductor Lithography Business operates remained harsh. We worked to enhance the performance of
advanced equipment, primarily ArF immersion scanners, and improved product competitiveness, but the increased
severity in aspects such as prices and trade conditions did not result in the winning of any new customers. In addition,
there were changes to the capital investment plans of customers who had conrmed the placement of orders, which
had a severe effect on our business results in the scal year ended March 31, 2016.
However, I was pleased with the achievement of basic performance targets of the NSR-S630D ArF immersion
scanner at customers sites. In 2016, we also began shipments of the NSR-S631E, which represents a one-step
improvement over the NSR-S630D. In-house performance demonstration data is very stable, and we plan to boost
performance going forward.
As a result of ongoing cost reductions, we were able to achieve our initial targets in respect of in-house production
costs. Looking ahead, we will build an optimum balance into the supply chain between in-house and outsourced
production and will also address reductions in subcontracting costs.
Q Please tell us about any issues that need to be addressed.
Reducing the production time lost at our customers’ sites is the most important issue for the Semiconductor
Lithography Business. A semiconductor manufacturing plant is not allowed to cease production for a minute, not
even for one second. When an unforeseen circumstance has occurred, the questions that are always asked are how
quickly the equipment can be recovered to normal operations and by how much can the time needed to set up the
equipment be shortened toward restarting the customer’s production. While there are problems to be improved at
the design stage, there are also parts that can respond to post-delivery equipment adjustments or operational
aspects. As a result of the variety of initiatives taken thus far, we have achieved considerable time savings, but will
continue to aim for zero lost time to respond to the wishes of our customers.
An important point is to strengthen collaboration with customers who have a wide variety of production processes
and product types. Centered on the Customer Solutions Department established in 2014, we engage in support that
puts us in the position of each of our customers from a long-term perspective. The results of that move are steadily
appearing, and we have reached the stage where we are able to reliably conclude negotiations, including for repeat
or after-sales service orders from major customers.
Semiconductor Lithography Business Unit
PRECISION EQUIPMENT BUSINESS
26 NIKON REPORT 2016