Message from the Top Management

 

Adhering to the spirit of
“ 仕濾過事” (Rokajinitsukafuru),
we continue to blaze the trail to a new era

 

Atsuhiko Yamazaki, Representative Director and President
Hiroaki Yamazaki, Director, Senior Executive Vice President

 

Ever since our company was established in order to contribute to society through the filtration business, this aspiration has remained unchanged, and continues even today. As social issues become more serious and complex, solving them will clearly be more difficult than ever before. At the YAMASHIN-FILTER Group, we all pull together, working as one as we face up to these challenges to create a sustainable future.

 

President▶ Our company has adhered to the corporate philosophy of “仕濾過事” (Rokajinitsukafuru) ever since our founding, and we have been a driving force in the filter business for more than half a century. When my thoughts turn to the beginning of the period of high economic growth in which this philosophy emerged, I canʼt help but pay my respects to the efforts made by those who came before us. They took on numerous vexing challenges, foregoing food and sleep as they dedicated themselves to overcoming the stumbling block of developing hydraulic filters for construction machinery that could withstand the bitter cold of Siberia, where pipeline construction was undertaken.
Composed during our efforts to overcome daunting difficulties, this credo expresses our intense eagerness to engage with and contribute to society by producing filters. It is the very spirit of sustainability, as expressed in our motto, “Contribute to society through filtration business.”

 

Vice President▶ This philosophy also resonates with todayʼs heightened expectations for businesses to contribute something to the world around them. In todayʼs era of stakeholder diversity, encompassing customers, shareholders, employees and the environment, we will remain unwavering in our orientation toward serving all stakeholders through our products.

 

President▶ We took on air filter company AQC Corporation as a wholly-owned subsidiary in order to expand the possibilities of our mainstay product, hydraulic filters for construction machinery, and out of a desire to make the most of our technological capabilities in increasing the breadth of our contribution to society. Atmospheric pollution caused by pollutants such as PM2.5 particulates has grown increasingly severe in emerging countries and throughout the world in recent years. Air filters purify the air in hospitals, schools, and other buildings to help the people who live and work there stay healthy. As we act out our philosophy, we will work to improve product performance through the unique strengths of YAMASHIN in the development and manufacture of filters from filtration media.

 

Vice President▶ Climate change, atmospheric pollution and other environmental problems have now become issues that confront all of humanity. The degree of their severity is such that we cannot avoid feeling them even in our day-today lives, with the frequent occurrence of serious disasters due to torrential rains and other events. This is an issue that will impact the future of the planet, so we must confront it in earnest in our capacity as global citizens. The first essential task that we face as a company is to make our products more sustainable. The second is to make our customersʼ businesses sustainable through our products. And the third is to make our supply chain sustainable. Companies that do not adapt in this way will become obsolete. Our endorsement of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Recommendations of May 2022 demonstrates our determination to help achieve carbon neutrality.

 

President▶ Spent filters become waste that is incinerated in a process that emits CO₂. In the 1990s, we therefore converted our filtration media from conventional paper materials to glass fiber, which features finer pores and lower flow resistance. While improving filtration performance, this also helps with more compact designs and extended product life cycles. The result has been a reduction in waste volume by a factor of four, and a major reduction in CO₂ emissions from incineration. More than 30 years since then, YAMASHIN-FILTER has now developed YAMASHIN NANO FILTER®, a high-performance environmentally friendly nextgeneration nanofiber filtration medium that enables us to further suppress CO₂ emissions. In the manufacturing process, one development has been the achievement in FY2023 of a 100% recycling rate of water used in the paper manufacturing line at the Saga Branch Office. Beginning in FY2024 they plan to change to use of a fast-curing solvent that does not require heat, which will help prevent temperatures in the plant from spiking, conserve electric power for air conditioning, and thereby reduce CO₂ emissions.
Not only does this new solvent help reduce CO₂ emissions, it also offers the advantage of major work environment improvements at plants in countries in southern latitudes with high year-round temperatures, where work has had to be performed amid even higher temperatures.
This demonstrates how we focus effort not just on our companyʼs products themselves, but also on improving onsite work environments so that we can reduce environmental impact while keeping costs down. While the tendency is to consider cost and environmental concerns to be in conflict with each other, it is possible to achieve balance between the two.
In addition to improving performance, we will continue our pursuit of products and manufacturing methods that are cleaner, have longer service lives, and are friendly to the environment.

 

Vice President▶ To achieve stable continuity with these kinds of business activities, it is essential that we build a sustainable supply chain. As our company deploys business operations globally, we are also taking great care to contribute to the local communities in which we operate, conscientiously giving back to our communities through local production for local consumption.

 

President▶ A representative example of this is the plant newly constructed with a BCP emphasis in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2021. There, we promote local procurement together with improvements in product quality. Hanoi is home to numerous parts manufacturers, enabling most procurement to be handled locally, thus helping to boost local employment.

 

Vice President▶ Vietnam was originally characterized by its numerous highly competitive suppliers. I understand that in other countries, and in emerging nations in particular, human rights risks involving work environments and child labor have been relatively high. But Vietnam has achieved growth in recent years, and I think that human rights risks there have, in fact, decreased. Strict oversight is, to be sure, a must, but there are a great many cases in which problems can be resolved through discussions. Instead of shying away from doing business with suppliers because of anticipated risk, we will adhere to our policy of striving to build relationships of trust with our highly competitive suppliers who excel. We will work together with them, orienting ourselves toward mutually beneficial aspirations and resolutions to issues. While making use of the partnersʼ meetings we hold on an annual basis, we will do our utmost to elevate the level of the whole supply chain, working with them to foster awareness of human rights and to strengthen related initiatives.

 

President▶ As part of our efforts to improve our overall corporate capabilities, we also focus effort on the workplace environment we provide. The COVID-19 pandemic provided the opportunity for staggered work hours and remote work to become well established at our company, and we now maintain an attendance rate of 50% at our Head Office. These systems enable employees to balance work with childcare and nursing care, while helping to address the important issue of creating a workplace where employees can continue to be actively engaged and advance. At the same time, however, 100% remote work can give rise to obstacles that hinder teamwork formation, and since there are ideas that emerge from face-to-face communication, we intend to continue with our system that provides days on which entire departments work together in person, while also allowing for individual circumstances.
From the standpoint of diversity, it has been noted that the ratio of female managers at business workplaces in Japan is low. Recognizing the need for measures to address the current state of underrepresentation of women in the domestic workforce, we appointed our first female External Director in June 2023. Our aim is for this initial step to lead to further stimulation of active engagement and advancement by women, progress on work-style reforms considerate of the wellbeing of employees, and establishment of a more diverse and robust corporate foundation.

 

Vice President▶ Now that we have transitioned into the post-COVID-19 era, we are again able to visit business partners and production plants for face-to-face dialogue as we did before, so that we can absorb and take ownership of issues. Actually practicing this on-site approach that we value as a manufacturing company enables us to put our five senses to maximum possible use in getting a realistic, immediate handle on the current situation and its problems, and to translate this into improved business activities as members of management. It will also enable us to help realize a sustainable future for the whole supply chain, including our customers.

 

President▶ I have a real sense that the emphasis of recent years on the ESG perspective provides a favorable wind for the filter business, which contributes to the realization of a better world. However, we cannot expect to develop sustainably as a company if we give in to complacency. Taking as our point of departure the “仕濾過事” (Rokajinitsukafuru) philosophy, which remains the cornerstone of our company, we will continue to strive to be a company that benefits society, and a pioneering presence for a new era.