Yamaha 2008 Annual Report Download - page 40

38 Yamaha Corporation
Yamaha’s precision machines and industrial robot systems, as
well as many of its leakage inspection devices, also originated
from the requirements of musical instrument mass manufactur-
ing and its rationalization.
Performance Overview
In fiscal 2008, sales in this segment rose 11.4% compared with
the previous fiscal year, to ¥36.0 billion, and operating income
soared 118.0%, to ¥1.7 billion. This result mainly reflected buoy-
ant sales of golf products, which enjoyed brisk demand both in
Japan and other Asian countries, and increased sales of magne-
sium parts to manufacturers of digital single-lens reflex cameras.
In the golf products business, both sales and income posted
substantial growth, which resulted mainly from enhancement of
the product lineup, particularly in high-trajectory drivers, as well as
aggressive advertising and marketing activities, and promotional
campaigns with well-known professional golfers under contract.
Sales of automobile interior wood components also
increased, and profitability improved dramatically, as the busi-
ness was transferred to Yamaha Fine Technologies and stability
in product quality was achieved.
In the metallic molds and components business, the com-
pany increased its production for magnesium parts, to address
surging demand from expansion of the single-lens reflex camera
market. However, delay in production yield improvement led
income to decline year on year.
Business conditions in the FA equipment business were brisk,
with sales rising year on year.
Key Policies and Priority Measures in Fiscal 2008
■ Conduct continuous publicity and promotional activities, centering on the inpres
brand, to boost sales in the golf products business
■ Transfer automobile interior wood components business to Yamaha Fine
Technologies, in order to develop business synergy
■ Improve flexibility in responding to fluctuations in orders in the metallic molds and
components business, and take steps to improve production yields
Fiscal 2008 Highlights
■ Sales and income from the golf products business increased substantially as the
inpres brand achieved rising levels of recognition
■ The income from automobile interior wood components used in luxury cars
increased year on year, owing to more reliable, improved product quality
■ Sales in the metallic molds and components business rose compared with the
previous year, but profits declined due to deteriorating production yields for
magnesium parts
Others
04/3 05/3 06/3 07/3 08/3
26,061
23,557 24,671
32,365
36,044
Net Sales
(Millions of Yen)
Business Outline
The others segment encompasses the parent company’s golf
products business, and the automobile interior wood compo-
nents, metallic molds and components, and factory automation
(FA) equipment operations of a consolidated subsidiary, Yamaha
Fine Technologies Co., Ltd. All of these operations are based on
the technology, expertise and high standards of quality that the
Company acquired from crafting musical instruments. For exam-
ple, the automobile interior wood components business makes
use of the appeal of natural wood by applying wood processing,
coating and precision molding technologies cultivated through
piano manufacturing. The resulting components are used pri-
marily in luxury car interiors. In addition, Yamaha’s integrated
production technologies for manufacturing lightweight, strong
magnesium casings used in products such as digital cameras
originally derived from the metallic mold technology Yamaha
developed to produce parts for musical instruments. Many of
Golf club
inpresTMX 4.6D