Integrated Report 2020

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LINTEC Integrated Report 20207Issues Regarding Sustained GrowthThe Group faces many issues that it will need to address in order to achieve sustained growth. Important issues will include improving the earnings structure in the Printing & Industrial Materials segment and other areas, addressing the spread of the COVID-19 infection that is being confronted by companies around the world, establishing business fields that will be new growth drivers over the medium-to-long term, and further strengthening corporate management in which the fundamentals are ESG and the SDGs. We will need to deter-mine how people’s lifestyles are changing in Japan, where the trend toward a declining birthrate and an aging population continues, and what the social issues are in countries around the world, such as growing concern for the environment. In these circumstances, we will think about our vision for the Group and clarify which issues around the world we can help to resolve, and how we can help to resolve them. On that basis, we will rapidly yet steadily advance the measures that we need to implement now. Rebuilding Our Business Structure to Make It Less Susceptible to the Influence of External FactorsOne of the problems with the Group’s current product portfolio is that results in each of our business operations are signifi-cantly influenced by external factors. For example, looking at adhesive products for labels, there are many products that are subject to fluctuations in demand due to such factors as the weather. These include products for food display labels and for beverage promotional campaign labels. In the semiconductor and electronic component related field, up to this point sea-sonal fluctuations in demand for products for air conditioning, etc., have been covered by demand related to smartphones. However, I have the impression that this has started to change accompanying the maturation of the mobile device market in recent years. In addition, I think that we need to conduct a thorough analysis of the various changes in the target markets for each business operation, and to advance the optimization of our product portfolio and the development of new products.Semiconductor–related adhesive tapes that have supported LINTEC’s growth in recent years Opportunities for Reform Due to the COVID-19 ProblemIn November 2020, we will relocate our office in Iidabashi, Tokyo, which is our base for domestic and international busi-ness strategy, to a nearby location. Since last year we have advanced preparations for this move in accordance with the basic concepts of “paperless” operations and “non-territorial offices,” in which employees are not permanently assigned to a specific desk. These have included enhancing the wireless environment and mobile devices, implementing thorough security measures, etc. As a result, the shift to mobile work in the Marketing Division accompanying the spread of the COVID-19 infection was comparatively smooth.Going forward, without limiting initiatives to the Marketing Division, the most important thing is to prepare and expand an environment that will protect all employees from the spread of the infection while enabling continued business execution. We are advancing working from home and the use of web conferencing systems, and, in addition, we have made masks mandatory at work, recommended thorough ventilation and staggered