Basic ideas

Basic ideas on our business and customers

As a Business-to-Business (B-to-B) materials manufacturer with companies as its　customers, our Group provides raw materials, components, and finished goods used in　manufacturing processes for a wide variety of products essential to industry and lifestyles.
Our products are used in a wide range of fields, including automotive, steel, electronic　components, agricultural machinery, and lithium-ion batteries. In addition, our group is　expanding its business not only in Japan but also in Asia, North America, and Europe, with overseas sales accounting for approximately 80% of our total sales. The reliability of our supply capabilities and excellence of our product quality have been critical in making this possible.
As a part of our customers’ supply chains, we work continuously to abide by relevant laws, regulations, and social norms, and strive to minimize the environmental impact of our manufacturing operations.

Initiatives

Plant decentralization and local production to meet demand

Plant decentralization and local production to meet demand

The Group, which had been based on domestic production in Japan, expanded its manufacturing bases outside of Japan in the 1990s, opening a carbon black plant in China in 2004, acquiring German graphite electrode manufacturer TOKAI ERFTCARBON GmbH in 2005, and acquiring Canadian carbon black manufacturer Cancarb Limited in 2014.
In 2017 and 2018, we acquired manufacturing sites in the United States, one of the world’s leading markets for our Graphite Electrodes and Carbon Black businesses. Through this, we shored up our presence as a global player and built a structure for stably supplying highquality products.

Raw material procurement

For both carbon black and graphite electrodes, the number of suppliers capable of providing high-quality raw materials is limited. Therefore, we need to build close relationships with key suppliers to ensure a stable raw material procurement system.
Supplies of both carbon black feedstock oil and needle coke (the primary raw material for graphite electrodes), are presently tight. For carbon black feedstock oil, we select suppliers based on a balance of required volume, price, and product types.
For needle coke, each of our production sites currently conduct procurement locally. To ensure stable procurement, however, we are considering a centralized purchasing in the future to establish an optimal group-wide procurement system. We hold significant market share in many products, including carbon black and graphite electrodes, which are essential components for our customers’ daily production activities.
Accordingly, we recognize that continuing the stable supply of high-quality products is our fundamental responsibilities. As a company integrated into our customers’ supply chains, we will continuously strive to comply with various laws, regulations, and social norms, and to reduce the environmental impacts of our manufacturing processes.

Quality management

To provide products that satisfy our customers, our Group strives for thorough quality control from the design stage onward, through the processes of raw materials procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and sales. We conduct inspections under strict standards for manufacturing processes and shipment, beginning from the acceptance of raw materials and auxiliary materials. We aim to strengthen our “Ties of Reliability” with customers by always providing safe and reliable products. All of our manufacturing sites in Japan have obtained certification for the ISO 9001 international quality standard as a foundation for quality control.
Our divisions and workplaces have all established quality management systems conforming to ISO 9001 and engage in activities to continuously improve customer satisfaction. Under these activities and through the everyday application of the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) cycle to all processes, we will continue to create products that earn customers’ satisfaction. Our divisions and workplaces cooperate as one to address quality control, by means including regular evaluations and discussions concerning the effectiveness of our quality management systems.

Pursuit of customer satisfaction

Even as we tackle technological development around the clock to improve our products’ functions and environmental footprint, our customers’ product-related demands become increasingly sophisticated and diverse by the year. To accommodate individual needs not readily met through existing products and technologies, we will undertake joint research and development together with customers.
By deeply understanding customers’ products and businesses and by always pursuing the potential for materials capable of innovating the industry, we aim to meet customers’ expectations and further earn their satisfaction.