2017

Kagami: Minebea has focused its efforts on expanding the electronic product business in order to realize further growth. However, the company actually suffered from a severe deficiency of in-house engineers. In considering how to supplement this, we realized that Mitsumi, which had over 1,000 diverse and highly specialized personnel, was our ideal partner.

Aso: Mitsumi has operated for many years as a manufacturer of components for electronic devices, and was bolstering efforts in precision mechanical components with an eye on the future. Minebea, with its foundation in mechanics, possessed proficiency in microfabrication, and was therefore able to supplement Mitsumi in the area of precision products, which had been a deficiency of the company. Furthermore, by combining electrical elements of Mitsumi's circuit and wireless technologies with Minebea's business, centered on ball bearings, we will be able to make better products faster. I believe that the combination of seemingly opposite elements of a mechanical company with an electronics company will enable us to achieve a greater synergistic effect.

Kagami: Minebea did not have such great breadth in its technological development. Hitherto, it expanded based upon a certain number of core technologies, developing unsurpassed products in those fields. Meanwhile, from Minebea's perspective, Mitsumi had a very wide expanse of technologies. It excelled at quickly responding to the demands of customers and society to develop new products.

Aso: Originally, Mitsumi purchased components for assembly, and had a history of producing high valueadded products. By working with Minebea, which possessed a core of strong technologies, we create a situation where we have what we need without the need to acquire products and technologies from outside the company. By fusing together the different types of technologies possessed by the two companies, we will achieve greater results than the simple sum of the two elements.

Kagami: In addition, we can see that Minebea's product line-up was centered on output devices such as actuators and monitors, while Mitsumi's line-up included many input devices, such as sensors and cameras. The fact that the two companies specialized in the different fields of input and output meant they could supplement one another, which is why we had high expectations for the integration.