September 2026 ESG presentation Q&A summary

Overview

The CEO held site visits since July to shape a 100-Day Plan that converts initial discussions into a concrete schedule for the current fiscal year, with implementation reviewed and revised every 100 days toward 2030. Milestone management and cross-organizational recognition are central to driving behavior change; an example is a Research policy requiring standardized business-trip reports to be input within 24 hours. The initiative’s targets are positioned to complement VISION 2030 business goals, with Team A aiming for ¥10 billion profit from new businesses and Team D aiming for ¥10 billion in cost reduction through DX.

Solutions strategy

R&D roles were separated last October and development divisions were aligned with business sectors to speed customer communication; roughly 80% of reselecting medium- to long-term themes is complete. The ten-theme target for new businesses is a stretch goal, not a replacement for the existing KPI of three or more by 2030, and is expected to contribute profit around 2035. Management will shift to cross-departmental project teams supported by an integrated platform showing timelines, customers, cumulative investment and sales/profit impact, with rollout planned from H2 fiscal 2026 and AI applied where effective. Priority areas include ICT/semiconductors, medical biotechnology, materials for physical AI and aerospace, with M&A or carve-outs as options.

DX and security

AI and DX workstreams are re-evaluating tasks and processes from first principles to create time and capacity; the company reports more than 165 data scientists and over 300 AI/DX measures being deployed. Shared AI assets and in-house demand-forecasting models aim to reduce inventory, improve production and logistics planning, and coordinate supply and demand across specialty chemicals. The DX contribution target is ¥10 billion by 2030. Information security enhancements include a security operations center, managed detection and response, separation of private-cloud sections, approved-cloud governance and planned AI-usage training, with the Risk Management Committee treating security as a key management risk.

Plant evolution

A knowledge-transfer AI will map past operational data and veteran expertise to a 'trigger database' to reduce loss of know-how. Plants are to be reframed as sources of competitiveness with a stretch goal of introducing 100 new production technologies by 2030. Standardizing core ways of thinking—data-driven action and visualized work—rather than identical operations, is intended to speed AI rollouts and create a shared operational mindset across diverse plant types.