Fujifilm Deepens Diversification

The transformation of the past 20 years has allowed Fujifilm to embark on a unique and diversified development path, and it has become wider and wider.

This giant in the film era started a comprehensive transformation of the company after the millennium, and successfully removed the label of film, and gradually transformed into a company focusing on medical and health, high-performance materials and document processing. The "new giant" in the core business.

Fujifilm's financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 released not long ago shows that Fujifilm achieved sales revenue of US$4.866 billion, of which the imaging business was US$678 million; the healthcare and high-performance materials business was 20.69 $2.119 billion in the document processing business. The two business fields of healthcare, high-performance materials and document processing have accounted for nearly 90% of the total sales revenue.

And, new shifts continue. While accelerating the development of diversified operations, Fujifilm focuses on promoting the development of key core businesses such as medical and health care and high-performance materials, which is also the key business promotion for Fujifilm to accelerate the development of the Chinese market. At the first CIIE in 2018, Fujifilm appeared in the medical equipment and healthcare exhibition area, focusing on displaying the latest technologies and products in the fields of healthcare and high-performance materials, including cosmetics, new anti-influenza drugs, anti-counterfeiting inks, and antibacterial materials.

CEConline was informed that at the second CIIE this year, Fujifilm will move to the high-end equipment hall, and the booth area will increase by 30% to 400 square meters. On the basis of the foundation of the exhibition, it will focus on displaying various achievements in the field of high-performance materials, and closely follow the four major areas of focus in China, including the field of environmental protection, the field of intelligent hardware in the context of 5G, the field of safety manufacturing and the field of visual design.

Fujifilm China President Wu Yuboxin is accepting In an exclusive interview with "CEConline", Fujifilm said that Fujifilm is a company that attaches great importance to matching future planning and planning with social values. The company's business must conform to social development trends and contribute to social development and social improvement. Under the theme Formulate future development plans. Wu Yuboxin emphasized that Fujifilm, which has successfully achieved the initial diversification transformation, is now fully moving towards a new leap-forward stage.

New Beginning

The shrinking film market and the advent of the digital age have produced two classic cases in business history. One is the bankruptcy of Kodak, and the other is the “successful turnaround” of Fujifilm, whose successful transformation is inseparable from its advanced diversification strategy and strong technical genes.

Wu Yuboxin told "CEConline" that the success of the current diversified business is due to the "four-quadrant matrix" after Fujifilm has comprehensively inventoryed its own technology - how to use existing technology to consolidate existing market? How to develop new technologies and apply them to existing markets? How can existing technologies be applied to new markets? How to research new technologies to open up new markets?

In 2000, when the film business reached its peak, the global film market began to shrink in an all-round way. At this time, Fujifilm took the initiative to face the challenge and started to change its core business centered on film. In 2003, through the analysis of the "four-quadrant matrix diagram", making full use of the technologies accumulated in the film era and accelerating technological innovation, Fujifilm began a comprehensive transformation to find new markets and develop new core businesses, such as integrating its expertise in the field of film. Antioxidant technology is applied to cosmetics, nanotechnology is applied to pharmaceutical processes, and new technologies are developed in the field of high-performance materials to open up new markets, etc., thereby identifying six new technologies in medical health, high-performance materials, electronic imaging, optoelectronics, document processing, and graphic arts. Core Business.

With a clear strategic direction, clear phased goals, accurate analysis of its own advantages, and firm and efficient execution, Fujifilm has finally formed three core business areas of imaging, healthcare, and high-performance materials and document processing .

Beginning in 2007, the imaging business accounted for less than 30% of Fujifilm's revenue. Since then, new business growth has accelerated, and Fujifilm has become a technology-driven innovative company with diversified operations. enterprise. According to its 2018 fiscal year annual report, Fujifilm achieved sales revenue of US$21.905 billion, of which the imaging business was US$3.486 billion; the healthcare and high-performance materials business was US$9.360 billion; the document processing business was US$9.059 billion, accounting for US$9.059 billion. They are 15.91%, 42.73% and 41.36% respectively. The traditional business has dropped to less than 20%, and the remaining two core business areas are still accelerating growth.

In addition, the success of this phased transformation is not the end, but a new starting point for the future. In 2018, Fujifilm Group also fully launched the global brand promotion campaign "NEVER STOP", which not only refers to Fujifilm's "endless creation" in technology, but also represents Fujifilm's "Never Stop" in sustainable development and transformation. .

Boxin Wu pointed out that the market is constantly changing and the society is developing continuously, so Fujifilm's transformation will continue to keep pace with the "internal and external". He emphasized to "CEConline": "Fujifilm's development plan includes a medium-term management plan and a long-term management plan, and the medium-term management plan is also an action plan to achieve long-term goals. Our current long-term management plan is the 'Sustainable Development Plan 2030 (SVP2030). )', around key words such as 'environmental protection', 'health' and 'sustainable development', to solve the problems of future social development through technological innovation, development of new products and services."

Specifically based on existing In terms of the three core businesses, the optimization and improvement are also being accelerated. Wu Yuboxin said that each business field actually covers many subdivided businesses. For example, the medical health and high-performance materials business field includes more than 10 business groups such as medical systems, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, industrial materials, and fine chemicals. The various businesses under each business area can be divided into three categories: traditional, growth and innovation.

Traditional businesses focus on "improvement" and continuously improve their profitability; growth businesses focus on "strengthening", fully introducing them to the market and increasing market share; innovative businesses emphasize "future" , discover and invest in new businesses and new markets needed for future social development.

Taking the medical and health care and high-performance materials business fields, which are mainly growth-oriented and innovative businesses, as an example, Wu Yuboxin told the "CEConline" that the medical and health innovation business lies in the ability to improve the hospital's work operation in the future Efficiency and service level, using new technologies to help hospitals enhance the innovative value of their business. For example, REiLI, an artificial intelligence technology in medical imaging launched by Fujifilm at the first CIIE, has powerful functions such as organ AI recognition and auxiliary doctor diagnosis; Point-of-Care ultrasound tools that can help doctors perform accuracy-based procedures and treatment procedures, improve success rate and safety; develop new drugs for diseases that have no cure in the world, such as the new drug that was launched to deal with the Ebola virus "Avigan", and the continuous development of new drugs for cancer, etc. "The key is to aim at current and future social issues, combine our own advantages and find new business opportunities," Wu said.

Under the guidance of the long-term management plan "SVP2030" strategy, Fujifilm is accelerating the application of the diversified technologies accumulated in the development of photographic films and the combination of new artificial intelligence technologies, and is actively developing and Cooperation with various organizations to comprehensively deepen the diversification strategy. Accelerating business development in the Chinese market is also one of the keys to achieving new breakthroughs in its new phase of diversified development.

Deeply cultivated in China

As the third largest market after Japan and the United States, Fujifilm's current business sales in China account for 12%-13% of global sales, and the Chinese market is in The value of the entire group is still increasing. Boxin Wu said that one of the most urgent tasks at the moment is to strengthen investment in the Chinese market, deepen the business of medical and health care and high-performance materials to open up room for performance growth, and ensure that the growth rate of Fujifilm’s Chinese market is higher than that of Fujifilm. China's economic growth.

Wu Yuboxin said that during his tenure, he will pay more attention to closely integrating business with market demand and creating new value for customers. In his view, technology, products and services must be in line with the current market, which is also the key to Fujifilm's success. "Chinese companies not only sell Japanese products in China, but also combine the unique needs of the local market, gradually realize localized research and development in China, add more new functions and new values to products, and provide more opportunities for the Chinese market. products and services.”

As early as 2016, Fujifilm set up an innovation center in China to integrate the nurturing of new business with the actual needs of the development of Chinese society, to promote enterprise transformation and realize new business value. According to Wu Yuboxin, the innovation center now plays two key roles:

First, to seize the opportunity of China's building an innovative country, to identify new needs in combination with China's latest industrial policies and market trends, and from Find out the new business space that Fujifilm can open up. The second is to integrate Fujifilm Group's unique core technologies and other advantageous resources to create new value and develop new innovative businesses according to the unique needs of the Chinese market.

In the Chinese market, Fujifilm's medical and health business closely follows the national strategy of "Healthy China 2030", and its high-performance materials business is in line with the current strategic direction of China's smart manufacturing transformation, so as to meet the needs of the Chinese market. products and services, accelerating the landing of the two key businesses in the Chinese market. At present, the healthcare and high-performance materials business accounts for more than half of Fujifilm's total sales in the Chinese market, with healthcare accounting for 35% and high-performance materials accounting for 25%.

Wu Yuboxin said, "In the medical field, the incidence of cancer in China is increasing, and the technologies accumulated by Fujifilm in the medical field can all play a role in early screening and the development of new solutions for cancer treatment. Various testing equipment developed by the film can help people deal with diseases in daily life; and in terms of improving the diagnosis and treatment capabilities of primary medical institutions, Fujifilm has launched a series of products based on the latest technology.”

And In the field of high-performance materials, business growth and innovation have always been the main focus, which is also an important breakthrough for Fujifilm to further develop the Chinese market. Xu Ruifu, the head of the Innovation Center, told CEConline that the Innovation Center has established three key directions for the development of the high-performance materials business in China in combination with the transformation of China's manufacturing industry with the goal of intelligent manufacturing:

First, Information and communication technology mainly based on intelligent hardware, secondly, China vigorously advocates the field of environmental protection under green development, and thirdly, China's rapid development of new energy vehicles.

"CEConline" learned that at the second CIIE in November this year, Fujifilm will demonstrate micro-filtration including industrial wastewater and residual ions in liquids used in the field of environmental protection. Cores and ion exchange membranes, NDT non-destructive testing systems used in safety monitoring of aircraft, ships and other components in the field of safety manufacturing, conductive films used in smart hardware and MEMS micromirrors that can be used in AGV automatic guided vehicles and many other high-performance materials The latest technologies and products in the field.

In addition, Wu Yuboxin emphasized that improving the localization of products and services in China also includes strengthening foreign exchanges and cooperation with the government, scientific research institutes and local enterprises, and actively participating in China's economic transformation. in projects related to industrial upgrading.

For example, in the medical field, as early as 2016, Fujifilm invested in China Resources Pharmaceutical Group to accelerate the promotion of medical business in the Chinese market. In 2017, the two parties signed a strategic cooperation agreement, including pharmaceuticals, medical Comprehensive cooperation in the fields of equipment and health care products. In 2018, Fujifilm signed a memorandum of cooperation with Hisun Pharmaceuticals, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and China National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Emergency Prevention and Control Drugs to jointly promote the clinical development of anti-influenza virus drugs.

At present, Fujifilm's healthcare business has covered three major areas of "prevention", "diagnosis" and "treatment". Film constantly and flexibly uses its unique high technology and rich experience to improve products and services, accelerate the improvement of medical quality and efficiency, and promote the healthy development of human beings.

"In the process of helping China's economic transformation and development, both Chinese and foreign companies are committed to solving the problem of industrial upgrading. Everyone is both a competitor and a partner. In some areas, Fujifilm may be able to promote the development alone. Some must work with local Chinese partners to solve market needs, complement each other's advantages, promote business development together, and reach a mutually beneficial and win-win relationship." Wu Yuboxin said.