Sanyo's CEO Pledges to Increase the Company's Efficiency Within Three Years

The president of Sanyo Electric Co. (Japan), Yukinori Kuwano, reports that the company intends to double its number of digital technicians from just under 5,000 to 10,000. This move is part of his three-year comprehensive strategy to focus on electrical parts, including rechargeable batteries and liquid crystals; and digital equipment, including mobile phones and digital cameras. Sanyo's president also stated that the company plans to expand its energy and environmental businesses, including solar and fuel cells.

Other planned changes include a planned increase in efficiency. Sanyo intends to achieve this by cutting production costs and instituting supply-chain management by using information technology. Kuwano further related that Sanyo will be introducing a quality management method based on the kind used in the US. He hopes that this will raise development and production efficiency by a factor of two or even three, in addition to increasing consolidated return on equity from 6 percent to 10.