What are the challenges that SEKISUI has encountered over the course of more than five decades of doing business in Europe?

The transfer of knowledge and technology from Japan to overseas markets such as Europe has always been a demanding task. This includes necessary production adjustments to the needs of local markets and legal requirements as well as overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers. Thankfully, with the presence and infrastructure we have in Europe today, these are less of an issue than they used to be. We’ve successfully overcome these difficulties for many products.

What challenges are particular to SEKISUI’s activities in Europe?
We consider our European companies’ independence in their day-to-day business activities to be very important. This is also a necessary consequence of the variety of technologies and products we manufacture in Europe. However, despite their independence and different businesses we believe that there is unused potential for synergies and cooperation among the companies on different levels. Creating the biggest possible benefit for all European SEKISUI companies out of this untapped potential is a challenge we are currently working on.

What are your next steps regarding this ambition?

At first, we will focus on corporate functions and administrative tasks for each of our local businesses in Europe. We will try to standardise guidelines and, thus, harmonise processes. Once we have established these new tools and methods, the communication between our European companies but also between our Japanese headquarters and Europe will run a lot smoother. Continental HQs such as our team at SEBV are responsible for these necessary processes.

How has SEKISUI approached those challenges with its local subsidiaries so far?

We founded SEBV in Roermond, Netherlands, in 1988 to support all of SEKISUI’s European subsidiaries with a central contact point. Going a step further than just providing assistance, in 2010 the Managing Directors in Europe agreed on a new course for their collaboration. Corporate social responsibility and branding were identified as the most obvious common denominators amongst all companies for a strategic partnership. This was also the area with the most obvious potential for collaboration. In 2015, in order to support the local subsidiaries individually and more efficiently, a KAIZEN manager, human resources and marketing communications were implemented in Europe in addition to the already-established finance and controlling function. Thereby, we were able to improve our methods for identifying, understanding and solving the individual needs of our companies.

From an economic perspective, what do you identify as the key aims of SEKISUI’s European subsidiaries in 2016?

We have set our sales target in Europe at 520 m €, with an operating income of 64 m € for 2016. As a contributing factor to reach this aim, we have identified eight businesses we want to focus on and expand in. We call them the Growing 8. In Europe, we cover three fields with the Growing 8: Eco-friendly materials for transportation, materials for mobile devices and diagnostic systems. Conventional as well as strategic future investments in these fields are very likely.

What are the underlying business principles behind this?

SEKISUI companies worldwide are pursuing three different key strategies: Change is mainly related to the core business of SEKISUI and targets continuous advancement and specialization of business models and products. Then there is Co-Creation by which we mean developing new markets or fields by internal or external cooperation. Finally, there is Localization, meaning an accelerated adaptation of outstanding business models to the demands of international markets in addition to a strong expansion of existing businesses outside Japan.

In a global context, what is the importance of the European subsidiaries for SEKISUI?

SEKISUI’s business is going strong in its home country, but the growth potential in the Japanese market is almost exhausted. Therefore, SEKISUI sees its future outside of Japan and will focus on its expansion into international markets. This comes along with high expectations for SEKISUI’s growth in Europe.

What do you consider to be the key mission of SEBV?

SEBV wants to relieve all European subsidiaries from distracting and time-consuming activities to allow them to focus on their core business activities. Furthermore, SEBV will provide guidance, consolidate administrative tasks, and support business operations – among other activities – that can impact business growth. Lastly, by advocating business growth and efficiency through improved communication and co-operation methods, SEBV wants to push forward its philosophy of Together as One.

Your European subsidiaries are spread over several countries and are managed independently yet all share the SEKISUI Group’s values and vision. How do you secure this unified standard across ten companies in seven countries?

Our comprehensive strategy encourages improved communication activities inside each company and among the companies in equal measure. As a part of this process, we facilitate cross company function meetings on several hierarchy levels to exchange information, share experiences and convey SEKISUI’s corporate policy and direction. In addition to the continuous exchange of the Managing Directors, there are Human Resources meetings, financial meetings, plant manager meetings, safety conferences and – just recently – our first Environmental Managers meeting. We intend to broaden this fruitful meeting and exchange culture to all areas in which we expect benefits to our companies.

How does this meet-and-exchange philosophy apply to non-management employees?

We have been offering intercultural communication workshops for a better understanding of Japanese business behaviour and culture for three years. Also, there are collective activities like the Eco Summit in 2015 where employees and their families come together regardless of their business role. We are also discussing a European football tournament among the SEKISUI companies to provide more opportunities for employees to meet and get to know each other.

How does the unified corporate vision and communication within your network of European companies affect SEKISUI’s economic growth?

By standardising communication practices and advocating a shared brand awareness we are creating synergy effects which can result in cost benefits. In addition to that, our Corporate Social Responsibility concept not only guarantees a work environment for SEKISUI’s employees that is consistent with our ethical guidelines but also encourages an increased effort to produce and sell environmentally sustainable products. Environmental awareness and social responsibility measures, which are certified by an external committee, guarantee higher-quality products and are also considered additional selling points in today’s markets. Of course, we also benefit from our increased communication activities regarding a shared brand awareness. Last but not least, SEKISUI’s unified vision and networking strategies include innumerable benefits for our employees. Additional career opportunities through information sharing and in-house trainings across all our European facilities offer new and exciting perspectives.