Message from CEO
Developing leading-edge measurement and testing technologies while helping to ensure public safety and security
Since our founding in 1954, Advantest has been consistently researching and developing state of the art measurement and testing technologies, driven by our corporate message spurring us to provide Technology Support on the Leading Edge.
We regard such technologies as 'mother technologies' that we harness to conceive ever better products. Moreover, our well-honed technologies back up highly-reliable manufacturing processes in a broad range of industries, thus helping to ensure a safer and more secure world overall. In this way we duly fulfill our corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate in the course of ongoing operations and moves toward further expansion.
We are also taking steps to develop new technologies that will contribute to a better future for the world, while remaining ever aware of our obligation to help ensure the public's safety and security. Meanwhile, in conjunction with our stakeholders we are working steadfastly to maximize corporate value by achieving sustained growth.
Unwavering dedication to social responsibility amid a changing business environment
Global realignment in the semiconductor industry has recently been picking up steam. This is prompting manufacturers of semiconductor test equipment to create increasingly robust operating structures geared toward meeting global market needs quicker and with more precision, thereby affording such companies a stronger presence in the automatic test equipment realm.
Likewise, in 2011 Advantest opted to acquire the large semiconductor automatic test equipment manufacturer Verigy Ltd. based in the US, and completed full integration of the firm’s operations in 2012. The move provided Advantest with a more significant presence in the semiconductor tester market, boosting our operations in the non-memory tester domain where Verigy possessed competitive strengths, in addition to our existing dominant position in the memory tester business.
In line with our ultimate aim of creating innovative products and operational processes, our integration of Verigy's operations overcame disparities between the approaches and attitudes of the two entities regarding product development and manufacturing, while also fusing the technologies, know-how and other strengths long cultivated by each firm. In bringing disparate operations together, we worked hard to encourage face-to-face communication among employees across regional and organizational boundaries, thereby introducing new approaches to various facets of our business such as research and development, manufacturing, service and maintenance, and even human resources management.
These efforts have enabled Advantest to capture greater market share than previously controlled by the two companies combined before integration, while launching Advantest firmly to the top spot worldwide in the semiconductor test systems market. Meanwhile, the process of coming together led to our employees building strong ties that extend beyond departmental and regional lines, resulting in an organizational environment sure to act as a significant asset as we pursue future growth.
Gearing up for further growth as we enter new fields of business
Our dominant position in the global semiconductor test system market brings with it even greater societal obligations. With that in mind, we launched our corporate-wide ACT2014 initiative in fiscal 2012, designed to leverage synergies of Advantest and the former Verigy to help us achieve further growth as the industry leader. Standing for Advantest Culture Transformation, the ACT2014 initiative was so named to reflect our strong desire to fuse the corporate cultures of Advantest and the former Verigy in taking the company forward.
The ACT2014 initiative sets targets for future growth that include a greater share of the tester and handler market, our core business arena. The initiative also calls for a four-fold increase over fiscal 2011 in sales generated by new businesses, particularly focusing on opportunities in medical care, the environment and energy — all business realms where we can help address societal needs. Meanwhile, the need for us to pick up the pace in pursuing new business opportunities led us to develop our in-house ADVenture initiative, launched in fiscal 2012, whereby we encourage employees worldwide to submit ideas related to potential new ventures. Those ideas are then discussed over the corporate intranet, with promising ideas subsequently turned into commercially viable enterprises.
We are committed to providing greater benefits to society going forward, while fearlessly entering new fields of business guided by our slogan, "Working Together, We Can Do Better."
Building a company that will remain integral to society a century from now
In addressing issues inherent in our Corporate Social Responsibility mandate we vow to remain constantly aware of our corporate obligation to help ensure public safety and security, while staying in tune with our responsibilities toward society as a leading company in our industry.
In addressing environmental concerns, we drafted the Advantest Group Environmental Action Plan on the basis of our environmental policy, which guides us in our efforts to implement environmentally-sound management practices across the entire Advantest Group. Under the Fifth Advantest Group Environmental Action Plan, concluding in fiscal 2012, we achieved clear-cut progress toward objectives in the respective action plan categories of: environmental management, environmentally-friendly products and environmentally-sound business practices. Furthermore, fiscal 2013 marks the launch of a now more globally-oriented Sixth Advantest Group Environmental Action Plan (fiscal 2013–2014), which accounts for the prospect of an increasing environmental impact from our overseas business locations.
Meanwhile, to more effectively pursue initiatives premised on our corporate social responsibility mandate, we have opted to embrace the ISO 26000 guidelines of the International Standards Organization, based on which we have launched initiatives to assess company activities. This process is enabling us to pinpoint our strengths, identify our weaknesses, and prompt a worldwide transformation of our operations, thereby hastening our growth as we establish our position as a truly global company, trusted throughout the global community.
Our aspirations in this regard prompt us to look far ahead at how we might best serve society in the future. Accordingly, we intend to pursue a position as a company that is both trusted and needed by society in the long term, toward which end we vow to shun complacency while consistently looking out into the future toward impending societal changes, and persistently stepping up to the challenge of creating innovative solutions tailored toward emerging industry demands.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of our stakeholders for your ongoing confidence and support.
