Jan. 01, 2022

Satoshi Mochida - Representative Director, President and CEO, Komori Corporation

I would like to extend my best wishes for the New Year and express my deepest gratitude for the support we received from all of you during the previous year. I sincerely hope for your continued good health and success.

In 2021, in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), many countries restarted their economies while taking countermeasures against the spread of infection. Many adopted new lifestyles to prepare for the virus.

drupa, the world's largest printing exhibition, last held in April as virtual.drupa, and China Print 2021, last held in Beijing in June, are taking on new forms, shifting from exhibition hall-based expositions to online and hybrid exhibitions. Komori is working to enhance customer trust by proposing solutions amid a drastically changing social environment and pandemic, constantly providing customers with the latest information through online open house events, webinars, and videos.

Komori is presenting a variety of solutions for customers' issues and is striving to transform into a trusted PESP (Print Engineering Service Provider) by providing total services.

In the offset printing segment, our new lineup of the Lithrone GX/G advance series presses has been highly rated by customers around the world. In the area of package printing, the high performance of the advance series has driven significant productivity improvements for customers who have frequent small lot and special color work. In addition to improved printing process productivity, it is important to link information between processes through Digital Transformation (DX) of the entire production process. By combining KP-Connect Pro, the core system of our Connected Automation concept, with advance series presses, each process can be digitally connected, contributing significantly to the transformation of printing plants into smart factories. These solutions are aimed at further improvement of our customers' productivity.

As the world continues to embrace digital inkjet printing, Komori is offering high quality, ultra-small-lot, double-sided printing on the Impremia IS29s in B2+ sheet size, and preparing for mass production and worldwide shipment of the Impremia NS40, using nano-ink technology, in B1 sheet size.

In the securities printing press business, demand for banknote printing continues to be strong, and new plant construction projects are underway in many countries. Komori will secure orders by strengthening its unique proposals aimed at higher operating rates and enhanced banknote design scalability, mainly in Europe and Asia.

In the Printed Electronics (PE) business, the electronic components industry is picking up, and orders for electronic component manufacturing equipment are increasing due to accelerated moves to DX during the pandemic. In addition, we are advancing ideas for new technologies for the miniaturization of circuit boards.

MBO, which manufactures and sells postpress equipment, is an important business that provides postpress solutions to realize smart factories and to generate synergies with existing businesses. In particular, MBO's CoBo-Stack collaborative robot, now with over 100 systems produced, is establishing itself as a leading solution for material handling automation and labor saving.

The Komori Group will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023. We will continue contributing to the development of our customers and society by providing a variety of products and solutions, aiming to realize our corporate ideal of being "a company providing customer kando." We look forward to your continued guidance and support in this new year.