2025.01.01information
New Year’s Greetings for 2025
I would like to extend my best wishes for the New Year to you all.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude for your continued patronage throughout the past year.
From Suminoe Textile to SUMINOE
In 2024, the Japanese economy showed signs of economic recovery and improvement in the employment and income environment due to increased inbound demand. However, the situation remains unstable, with concerns over the impact of prolonged hikes in raw materials and energy prices caused by the unstable international situation, as well as rising interest rates and prices, on the domestic economy.
In this environment, in 2024, the SUMINOE GROUP held a workshop to look ahead to the “ideal corporate image” for the Group in 2050 and implemented the “Shin Mirai (lit. new future) Project -2050-,” an in-house project that uses a backcasting approach to consider how we can meet future needs while expanding our existing technologies. Moreover, in July, we announced “SUMINOE GROUP WAY 2025-2027 STEP II,” the targets for the latter three years of the current Medium- to Long-term Management Targets, disclosing our strategy for the next three years up to 2027.
On December 2, we changed our company name from “Suminoe Textile Co., Ltd.” to “SUMINOE Co, Ltd.” with the aim of accelerating global expansion and improving the profitability and competitiveness of each business, including expanding non-textile areas. Textile products account for approximately 65% of our Group’s net sales, and non-textile products account for approximately 35%. Originally, we often handled resins and films for backing and coating of textile products, and this is where the development of non-textile products began. In order for our Group to further increase its corporate value, we believe it is necessary to promote the business without being limited to textiles, and therefore we have decided to change the company name. We will inherit and use the advanced technologies that we have cultivated and developed in the “textile” area, which has long been part of our familiar company name, and other areas, including fibers, and will use these technologies as a foundation to advance our business with an eye toward new “spaces” in the future.
“SUMINOE GROUP WAY 2025-2027 STEP II,” the targets for the latter three years of the current Medium- to Long-term Management Targets
Our Medium- to Long-term Management Targets, which began in FY2022, have set the ultimate target of achieving net sales of over 100 billion yen and an operating margin of over 5%. Although we achieved our target of achieving net sales of over 100 billion yen in FY2024, we recognize that the challenge is to strengthen our business foundation so that we can consistently maintain net sales of 100 billion yen even if the yen appreciates in the future. Meanwhile, the operating margin of over 5% has not been achieved. In “SUMINOE GROUP WAY 2025-2027 STEP II,” the targets for the latter three years of the current Medium- to Long-term Management Targets, we will continue to pursue five key themes: 1) improving profitability, 2) further promoting global expansion, 3) branding, 4) enhancing our management foundation, and 5) strengthening non-textile areas. By steadily raising the level of our capabilities, we aim to achieve sustainable growth and further increase our corporate value.
In the Automotive Textiles Business, we are currently facing the impact of Japanese automakers struggling to cope with the expanding demand for EVs in China. However, we plan to set a course for improving profitability by updating our global strategy by FY2027 and to increase our presence in overseas markets by promoting investments aimed at full-scale growth of our operation bases in North and Central America. In particular, taking advantage of our globally unique feature of being able to offer total coordination and proposals for automotive textiles, from ceiling materials to floor carpets, we work to establish a strong position of our operation bases in North and Central America, which are made up of wholly owned subsidiaries, by expanding our sales channels to foreign automakers and differentiating ourselves from our competitors as a total supplier. Additionally, as we continue to restructure our factory in Vietnam, which is a factory for the Functional Materials Business, we have begun using it as a manufacturing factory for the Automotive Textiles Business. By leveraging synergy effects across business segments at the factory in Vietnam and focusing on the development and sales promotion of new products for the Functional Materials Business, we will promote business restructuring to achieve our future growth.
In the Interior Fittings Business, which is our original business, we aim to increase the profitability of our existing businesses by reviewing our product portfolio. At the same time, by further increasing synergy effects in the space design business, we will strengthen our proposal capabilities for the entire interior space, thereby creating new value that has never been seen before.
Ambition for 2025
This will be the first New Year since our company name was changed to “SUMINOE Co., Ltd.” in December last year. Within the company, we will work to improve employee treatment based on the recognition that an environment in which employees can be proud to work is essential for the company’s sustainable growth. We will also work to change employee awareness through training and other means so that each and every officer and employee understands the value the Group provides and our strengths and acts with the Group Philosophy in mind. We will link this to various measures aimed at achieving the targets of “SUMINOE GROUP WAY 2025-2027 STEP II,” the targets for the latter three years of the current Medium- to Long-term Management Targets. By increasing our final profits, we will improve our corporate value and circulate the results of this in the form of further growth for our employees and the company.
Under the tagline of “Bring innovation to all kinds of spaces,” we will maximize group synergy, work together as a company to create a new SUMINOE, and focus on manufacturing that will lead to the creation of new value in spaces. We would appreciate your continued support.
Teppei Nagata
President,
SUMINOE Co., Ltd.