Olympus 2015 Annual Report Download - page 17

The average age is rising for populations of
countries and regions across the globe, and
this trend is creating a drive to limit medical
costs. Together, these factors are stimulating
a clear increase in the demand for early diag-
nosis procedures using endoscopes as well as
for endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic
submucosal dissection, and other minimally
invasive therapy procedures conducted using
endotherapy devices. Olympus is poised to
respond to this demand from its world-leading
position, which it is solidifying by developing
technologies that are unparalleled on the global
market and providing products of the same
caliber. These products include our mainstay
endoscopes, which feature enhanced function-
ality for supporting pathological change
examinations, such as narrow band imaging
(NBI) which highlights the capillary vessel and
subtle details for mucous membranes with high
contrast. Other offerings include our scopes
that boast improved ease of insertion. Going
forward, we will strengthen operations in fields
peripheral to gastrointestinal endoscopes to
grow this business as a core operational area
that supports the entire Company, and thereby
realizes ongoing growth in sales and income.
In the growth market represented by China
and other parts of Asia, we aim to achieve a
massive year-on-year increase in net sales in
fiscal 2016 of more than 20% by stepping up
efforts to train physicians in endoscopic proce-
dures, an area where capable individuals can
improve their skills to expand their implementa-
tion of these procedures. Furthermore, we will
expand our share of the endotherapy device
market by promoting usage of endoscopic
submucosal dissection procedures and bol-
stering our product lineup in this specialty.
The GS Business Unit is set to achieve
explosive growth in the future. The cata-
lysts for this growth include the strategic
investments conducted in fiscal 2015
tofuel further surgical device business
growth and the scheduled fiscal 2016
launch of the new surgical endoscopy
systems that Sony Olympus Medical
Solutions Inc., a joint venture with Sony
Corporation, developed technologies for.
Meanwhile, we have been accelerat-
ing business expansion in the energy
device field through such means as
bolstering our lineup of THUNDERBEAT
products to make these systems
applicable to various new fields and
expanding our sales force to strengthen
sales capabilities.
A large amount of the earnings gen-
erated in the energy device field come
from sales of the disposable instruments
that are connected to the core energy-
output devices. Accordingly, we expect
high profitability from THUNDERBEAT
to appear as the number of medical
institutions equipped with this system
increases and as it becomes more
common for these systems to be used
for medical procedures.
Olympus has established a strong presence
in terms of its flexible endoscopes for phar-
ynx and larynx treatments. However, our
share in the rhinology and otology fields
is still quite low. Given the Company’s rich
product lineup and superior technological
prowess, it is clear that we should not be
satisfied with our current position, and that
there is still plenty of room for the Company
to grow in the ENT field as a whole. The
market growth rate in the ENT field is not
particularly high by nature. Based on this
reality, we have established two main
strategies for expanding our business
in this market.
The first is to provide ideal solutions to
all stakeholders in the ENT field,
such as
healthcare professionals, hospital man
agers,
and patients. We will accomplish
this by
creating new diagnosis and therapeutic
procedures through close coordination
with medical institutions while also devel-
oping optimal new products to be used
with these procedures.
The second is to strengthen
sales
capabilities. Olympus must be capable
of
effectively providing the solutions created
through the first strategy to the relevant
stakeholders.
Previously, strategic invest-
ment in sales capabilities for the ENT field
has been insufficient. Going forward, we
will endeavor to build sales systems suited
to each market of operation and then
strengthen these systems to increase
Olympus’ global presence in the ENT field.
Olympus develops its global business
based on the policy of providing a com-
plete range of repair services to custom-
ers, no matter where in the world they
are located. For this reason, the Medical
Service Business Unit has an important
role to play underpinning Olympus’
Medical Business. At the same time, as it
is a stand-alone business unit, the Medi-
cal Service Business Unit is also devoted
to improving its own profitability. For
example, we aim to increase the ratio of
Olympus products covered by mainte-
nance service contracts. Such coverage
creates a win–win situation through
which customers are able to use our
products with peace of mind and the
Company is able to secure stable profits
at the same time. Furthermore, we are
pushing forward with ongoing repair
service cost reduction activities.
The Uro/Gyn Business Unit is utilizing the
extensive North American sales networks
that were acquired together with Gyrus
Group PLC to expand its operations in
the areas of enlarged prostate, bladder
cancer, and urinary tract stone treatment.
While Olympus already has strong market
shares for the resectoscopes used to
treat enlarged prostates and the flexible
endoscope used to diagnose bladder
cancer and treat urinary tract stones, we
will further solidify our position in these
markets by soliciting Olympus’ techno-
logical prowess. The Company’s share in
the market for urinary tract stone treatment
devices is still fairly low. This is largely due
to the fact that we have previously failed
to invest the necessary amount of man-
agement resources into this field, as well
as to the presence of highly competitive
rivals. We will work to expand our share
in this field by developing products that
are highly appealing to customers.
GI (Gastrointestinal)
Business Unit
ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat)
Business Unit
Medical Service
Business Unit
Katsuyuki Saito
Tomohisa Sakurai Georg Schloer
Yoshihito ShimizuMinoru Okabe
Messages from General
Managers of Business Units
in the Medical Business
Uro/Gyn (Urology / Gynecology)
Business Unit
GS (General Surgery)
Business Unit
The Medical Business has been sepa-
rated into ve business units, and we
are stepping up initiatives in elds
warranting strategic expansion. Each
business unit faces a unique market
with its own trends. By quickly and
accurately responding to the issues
faced in these different markets while
pursuing our goals, we aim to accel-
erate the growth of the Medical Busi-
ness as a whole.
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OLYMPUS Annual Report 2015
30 OLYMPUS Annual Report 2015
Olympus’ Growth Strategies
Special Feature: New Organizational Structure for New Corporate Strategic Plan