Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool Co., Ltd. Begins Operations

The new company's head office and main plant are located in Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture, at what has until now been the Ritto District Main Plant of MHI's Machine Tool Division. Operations will launch under a new president: Seiji Shirao, currently General Manager of the Machine Tool Division in MHI's Machinery, Equipment & Infrastructure business domain. The business philosophy being hoisted by the new company aims to "provide optimal solutions to enable the customer to achieve the purposes of, and resolve issues relating to, production activities; and contribute to enhancement of the customer's value in manufacturing." In line with this corporate stance the new entity will seek to become a leading global manufacturer in the fields.

In the gear cutting machines business, the new company will have a superior position within the global market; going forward it will strengthen its development and combined provision of machines and tools all having superlative product appeal. The new entity will undertake a new form of business to provide optimal solutions to resolve the diverse issues and challenges confronted on the customer's manufacturing floor, with its participation to commence from the initial stage of mulling potential problem-solving resolutions. In the advanced production systems business, in addition to offering solutions to improve the customer's machining technologies and production facilities, the company will also strive to achieve business in factory information processing systems technology making use of ITC (information and communications technology) and MHI's accumulated expertise as a machine tool manufacturer.

In recent years the environment surrounding the machine tools market has changed significantly both in Japan and abroad. In terms of technology, needs are becoming more sophisticated at an accelerating pace and calls are being heard for advanced automation and energy-saving technologies. Meanwhile attention is focusing on innovations in production making use of information and communications technologies, leading to intensifying competition among the world's machine tool manufacturers.

Against this backdrop, the new company, by virtue of its transformation to a dedicated firm, will pursue swifter decision-making and clarification of operational responsibilities. It will also take full advantage of the comprehensive strengths of the MHI Group and outstanding organizational responsiveness to be derived from its integration of manufacturing and sales functions, to pursue stronger response capability to changes in the market environment and customer needs, in order to accelerate the strengthening and expansion of its business operations.