Kazuya Kobayashi President and Representative
Director
We will contribute to a sustainable society by develop human
resources and supporting high-value manufacturing
Providing unique TOCALO value through
manufacturing craftsmanship
Following my appointment as Representative Director, President and Executive Officer
on June 23, 2023, I spent about one year visiting all of our operating sites in
Japan and overseas. TOCALO has set a long-term vision (Goal for 2030) of
“Contributing to a bright future for people and nature,” and two of our missions are
to “Provide high quality and high value-added products (coatings) to customers” and
“Contribute to environmentally friendly technologies.” In executing these two
missions, we are taking steps to establish a new pillar of business in the
environment & energy field. To use our business to contribute to a sustainable
society, our challenges are to identify client needs and to unify our employees at
our sales, manufacturing, and technology sites to boost our ability to provide
solutions.
To do this, at the start of 2024, we introduced an initiative to share the
client feedback that the sales departments of our plants across the country receive
about our products and services with all employees. We started this initiative
because we felt there was a gap in the understanding of client needs between the
sales department, which has many opportunities to interact with clients, and
employees in the manufacturing, technology, and other departments. Sharing the
feedback also gives us opportunities to understand how our products are useful to
our clients and how they are being used in society. I believe that even just the
small action of sharing client feedback during morning meetings will raise awareness
among all employees and motivate all of us at TOCALO to deepen our commitment to our
craftsmanship in manufacturing.
Commitment to climate change action
Electricity accounts for 86% of the energy the Company uses. Three types of equipment
consume a particularly large amount of electricity: compressors, dust collectors,
and refrigeration equipment. While maintaining our standard of quality, we have
implemented numerous measures to reduce power consumption, such as improving the
efficiency and reducing the usage time of our thermal spraying equipment.
Climate change is having a growing impact around the world, and we are
exploring initiatives for using our business to mitigate the impact, such as
generating energy from renewable fuel sources. Based on the GHG emissions reduction
target decided by the Japanese Cabinet in October 2021, we have set a target to
reduce the consolidated Group’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in
fiscal 2030 compared to fiscal 2013, representing less than 54% of the fiscal 2013
amount.
We set an interim target of reaching the 54% reduction on a non-consolidated
basis by fiscal 2025. However, our efforts to introduce renewable energy sources
proved effective, and we reached the interim target early, in fiscal 2022. In
addition, roughly 70% of our total energy now comes from renewable energy sources.
Our advanced coating technologies are also helping reduce our clients’ energy
consumption and environmental impacts by increasing the durability and longevity of
equipment parts.
The Environment Promotion Department created in fiscal 2021 leads energy
conservation and environmental activities throughout the TOCALO Group and holds
quarterly Energy Conservation and Environmental Meetings to share information and
report on our environmental initiatives. In addition, executive officers attend
semiannual Environmental Meetings to confirm the progress of initiatives associated
with our global environment and climate change countermeasures. We plan to increase
measures to continue raising employee awareness of environmental issues.
Stimulating the “spirit of taking on challenges” and leading us to the
next stage of growth
Each and every TOCALO employee must contribute for us to use our “manufacturing
craftsmanship” and our business to reduce our environmental impact and help combat
the impact of climate change. When I visited our operating sites in Japan and
overseas and saw how dedicated our employees are, I decided to create an
organization that fully supports and encourages all employees, no matter what level
they are at in their careers, who are enthusiastic about pursuing new ideas and new
directions. I also started thinking about what makes us TOCALO and reaffirmed that
we should use our four corporate mottos of Technology and Ideas, Youth and Passion,
Harmony and Reliability, and Good Service as a code of conduct for our employees. I
believe that Good Service is especially important because it leads to better
craftsmanship and quality for our clients and also improves our technology
development.
My goal as president is to ensure that every employee conducts their daily
activities guided by the four corporate mottos and that we advance our missions to
“Be always trusted by customers, shareholders, business partners, and local
residents” and “Be a company that all employees and their families are proud of, and
create a safe working environment where employees enjoy working.” We will continue
providing high quality and high value-added products as the “best partner for our
clients” in all areas as we fulfill our long-term Vision of “Contributing to a
bright future for people and nature.”
We will become a 100-year company by everyone working
together and aware of the need to earn the trust of all stakeholders
Hiroshi Goto Director, Managing Executive Officer;
General Manager, Administrative Headquarters
I serve as a Company director and participate in management as the General Manager of the
Administrative Headquarters and as the Director of Sustainability. Our company provides
high-performance coatings that support the foundation of people’s lives, and our
products are helping realize a sustainable society by reducing energy consumption and
extending the useful life of equipment in the renewable energy field. Focusing our
business on “sustainability” has enabled TOCALO’s market capitalization to grow to some
¥120 billion.
As we continue expanding our business, I believe our social responsibility will also
increase. In many ways, our corporate governance has been driven by outside influences,
but I think we have to do more as a company on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock
Exchange seeking to grow our business in the medium and long term.
Achieving sustainable growth for the Company will require each and every employee to
understand that their actions are related to our ability to earn the trust of all of our
stakeholders. This connects to “Thorough compliance (acting in accordance with
corporate ethics),” which is one of the five issues of materiality we must address to
fulfill our long-term Vision of “Contributing to a bright future for people and nature.”
I consider my role to be to promote awareness within the Company so every employee
understands that they are part of earning stakeholder trust. Some of the ways we promote
awareness are through engagement surveys, purpose training programs, position-specific
training sessions that are also attended by management personnel, and direct dialogue
with employees. The objective is to engage in dialogue within the company and to make
employees at all levels aware of the relationship between their actions and the
company’s overall growth.
In the purpose training, each employee was asked to define and share their what would
make them feel fulfilled in their work This was the first time we held these training
sessions, and it was a great opportunity to learn about and appreciate our employees’
positive outlooks, which gave us insight to how TOCALO should seek to evolve in the
future. Employees said it was interesting to exchange views with employees at other
plants who they do not usually get a chance to talk with. I believe the sessions have
made it easier to communicate more spontaneously across the organization.
We are currently at the stage of engaging in dialogue within the company and fostering
employee awareness, and we will continue efforts like these to increase employee
awareness of their role earning stakeholder trust. I hope to continue providing
opportunities for forward-looking employees pursue their visions. Along with our capital
investment, we will continue actively investing in our human capital.
We will be particularly active in investing in human resources who we project to become
future leaders of the Company. Increasing the number of people capable of leading our
growth will be a first step, which we will do by being a company that encourages and
rewards employees who are enthusiastic and passionate about their work.
In this year, the 74th anniversary of our founding, we are building the management
foundation and raising employee awareness about earning stakeholder trust as we prepare
to become a 100-year company. I believe that what TOCALO should do is what I should do,
and I will continue to fulfill the responsibility of my position and lead TOCALO to
sustainable growth.
