Management Commitment

With the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the deepening turmoil in Ukraine, the global community is facing an uncertain future.Geopolitical risks have forced a review of global supply chains, and manufacturing around the world is moving toward localized production.The impact of soaring resource and energy prices has also been enormous.

The situation is the same for the Neturen Group, but the fact that we have developed production bases in many regions of the world to date has been a major benefit to our business continuity.New developments are taking place inside the company, such as sales activities to re-examine the value of products and technologies.I am convinced that when we look back in the future, when we worked so hard to overcome the current situation, this will be a valuable opportunity to strengthen our sales force.We will not view the external environment negatively, but will aim to evolve in a positive way.

Despite the difficult circumstances, we achieved an increase in revenue and profit in FY2021, the first year of our 15th Mid-Term Management Plan.We are grateful for the efforts of our employees, who have built up a steady stream of improvements.Progress made in expanding our market share investing high-strength shear reinforcement bars, developing new needs for PC bars, and investing in increased production of ITW® high-strength spring steel wire in North America has enabled us to establish a profit base as stated in our basic strategy.Although the N-DX*1 system has been established and a new promotion office has been set in motion, I have the impression that company-wide awareness of the need for change is still insufficient.I believe that management, including myself, must go beyond mere digitalization and step into the field to communicate more clearly the specific vision of the future that the Neturen Group is aiming for.

The 15th Mid-Term Management Plan is based on the slogan “Change!!” and its objective is to “Change, Transform, Evolve.”To proactively innovate rather than be driven by external factors, management will take the initiative in fostering a culture that savors change.

Ecological, resource-saving, and environmentally friendly double-Eco (W-Eco) IH technology is the technology of the times.Our strength is that we have three pillars of business based on IH technology: high-strength steel products, heat treatment contract processing, and induction heating equipment manufacturing, which complement each other in our business.Other advantages include our industry-leading materials analysis, simulation, and production technologies, and our many industry-academia collaborative projects, which allow us to leverage our connections with universities and academic societies to stay at the industry’s cutting edge.

Our major goal now is to become the world's number-one company in IH technology.IH technology is already widely used in Japan, Europe, and the United States, but there are many countries and regions where this is not the case.To cover all continents, we will aggressively expand into regions where we did not have a base before and aim to penetrate their markets with IH technology.We believe that the Neturen Group's raison d'etre is to reduce humanity’s impact on the Earth’s environment and to continue supporting people's daily lives and social development.

For a company to survive and grow over the long term, it is essential that it helps to create a sustainable society and continues to be trusted by society.The Neturen Group’s management philosophy was originally designed with sustainability in mind, and the pursuit of contributing to society has always been at the core of our company.Based on this premise, we have formulated "NETUREN VISION 2030" and the 15th Mid-Term Management Plan with the SDGs at the center of management.Toward decarbonization, we are working to quantify Scope 3*2 CO2 emissions in addition to the existing Scope 1 and Scope 2.It is crucial to reduce emissions throughout the entire value chain, and we will continue to calculate and visualize the environmental contribution of our customers' adoption of our products and technologies that have a low environmental impact.

We also emphasize diversity in our human resources.In addition to continuing and strengthening the promotion of women and foreign nationals, we will focus on the essence of diversity, which is "gaining diverse perspectives to reduce business risks and create new value," and will utilize the strengths of a wide variety of human resources.Responding to human rights issues is another demand from society that has continued to grow in recent years.To clarify our approach as a global company, we established the Neturen Group Human Rights Policy in April 2022.This policy has been translated into ten languages and will be thoroughly disseminated at all Group sites around the world.

Neturen is a company of serious employees.While this is a major strength that characterizes our company, it also makes it difficult to come up with something "sharp" because of our earnestness, and we tend to maintain the status quo.We want our employees to understand that the company is about to make a major change toward the realization of NETURENVISION 2030, and we want them to take a step toward transformation.Discuss what you do not agree on until you are satisfied, and do not be afraid to express different opinions. The Human Resources Department and Corporate Planning Office are currently spearheading the plan to create opportunities to deepen communication between management and employees.

It is each and every one of our employees who continue to take on challenges that support Neturen's evolution and progress.We will create a new Neturen by mobilizing the Grou’s collective strength, aiming to enhance corporate value and contribute to a sustainable society.