Technological strengths supporting AGC

Possessing a wide range of unique basic technologies

The realization of our long-term business strategy will be supported by the strength of the many basic technologies that we have accumulated. Over the course of our long history of 117 years, we have taken on the challenge of offering a variety of distinctive materials and solutions, and have acquired a wide range of basic technologies for each of our products, including inorganic, organic, and bio-based technologies. Glass production technologies are one example. In addition to the development of glass materials, we also cultivated ceramics technologies by developing and manufacturing refractory materials used in melting furnaces, which led to our ceramics-related business. In the _eld of organic chemistry, we evolved the production of soda ash used in glass production and established an integrated manufacturing process for basic chemicals from raw salt. Today, we are continuing to expand our business domain while developing our own chemical chain that manufactures a variety of functional chemicals centered on fluorochemicals.
Another of AGC’s great strengths is the integration and combination of these technologies. Photomask blanks for EUV lithography are representative composite materials that combine organic and inorganic material technologies with a variety of processing technologies. Furthermore, in order to supply customers with distinctive materials, we need to build our own manufacturing processes because of the uniqueness of our products. Having proprietary process, production, and analysis technologies is also an important differentiating factor.

Broad customer base and strong brand image

We have built a broad customer base by expanding into a wide range of business fields and providing a large number of distinctive products that boast a leading stake in the global market. We have built relationships of trust with our customers who come to us first when they have a problem. Our mission is to be “an Everyday Essential Part of Our World. ” AGC is a materials manufacturer with solid technological development and a company that provides solutions to solve problems. Having such a brand image is also one of our strengths.
An additional strength is the presence of a culture that actively explores new pursuits. We believe that this is the reason why AGC is able to keep up with the changing times and realize innovative manufacturing.

Human capital strategy and technology development structure

A human resources strategy aiming for “individual growth equals company growth”

The technology development organizations in AGC have a wide range of technologies and diverse human resources. If these resources are not utilized properly, they will be wasted. The Group as a whole is promoting business portfolio transformation and shifting toward businesses that prioritize highly carbon-efficient technologies and improvements in ROE and asset efficiency. In technological development, we are also working to create a system that is both fast and flexible. Regarding human resources, we are dedicated to creating an environment that fosters employee growth based on the belief that individual growth equals company growth. This includes facilitating personnel exchanges and reallocations, as well as reskilling initiatives. One example is our “project system.” A project team is formed mainly by ambitious young people to work on a specific theme, bringing together members from different departments and serving as a platform for producing results through experimentation.
In leveraging our distinctive and broad range of technologies for development, we also place importance on strengthening horizontal connections among our human resources, and we are working to promote connections within the Group through initiatives such as CNA_*1 and Beatrust_*2. Furthermore, each in-house company and the corporate divisions’ research laboratories are collaborating to promote personnel exchanges. Another major feature of our system is that the corporate division’s Business Development Division incubates new businesses by utilizing the Group’s technological assets for themes that have been worked on in the corporate divisions’ research laboratories over the medium to long term or themes in boundary areas that are difficult for in-house companies to handle. To enhance the diversity of our human resources, we are focusing on increasing the proportion of women, promoting multiculturalism, and hiring PhD holders and mid-career professionals. Diversity is essential for creating new innovations. We are setting quantitative targets and steadily promoting diversity.

*1 CNA (Cross-divisional Network Activity): Network activity across departments/divisions based on skill classification
*2 Beatrust: A talent collaboration platform provided by Beatrust. Utilized as an internal social networking service.

Open innovation that leverages external knowledge

With a focus on open innovation, we are actively engaged in exchanges with people outside the AGC Group. Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean inventing something new from scratch, but can also involve creating new connections between existing elements. Open innovation is a very important space for creating new connections. AO (AGC OPEN SQUARE), a space for coraboration that opened in 2020 within the AGC Yokohama Technical Center, serves as a base for such activities. In 2023, the third year after its opening, approximately 600 organizations had visited, with over half of them being customer companies or academic institutions. It has been visited by more than 3,000 people in total. We have gained an understanding of the importance of interacting through proposals and other means to help visitors understand the technologies and strengths possessed by the AGC Group.

No matter how many human resources we have, it would never be enough to tackle all themes in-house on our own. Earlier, I spoke about “what to discontinue” when it comes to business portfolio transformation, which includes discontinuing in-house development and utilizing open innovation. Even if a theme should be continued, it may take a decade to develop in-house. However, there are also many cases where development in a short period of time is possible. without using internal resources, made possible by borrowing outside wisdom.

It is our belief that combining our technology development themes with external needs will generate valuable themes. When a good theme succeeds and contributes to the business, the motivation of the people who worked on it also increases, creating a positive spiral. Additionally, when companies engage in open innovation together, it is important for people from various departments to gather and collaboratively work with the customers of the partner companies. Through open innovation, we will continue to focus on creating a system that allows employees to experience success and achievement.

Promotion of strategic IP activities

We are continuously promoting initiatives to effectively utilize the results of technological development, which is an important resource for our business strategy, as intellectual property and to enhance our competitive advantage over other companies. To stimulate the acquisition of patent rights, we have established an incentive system based on our own evaluation criteria.
Patented inventions are born not only from the R&D division, but also from other divisions. Previously, rewards were given based on the pro_ts generated from commercializing the patent. However, currently, rewards are given at the time of patent registration, evaluated based on the innovation and originality of the invention as well as the impact of the patent rights on other companies. The underlying idea is to positively evaluate inventions that truly contribute to the business of the AGC Group, including their use at other companies. This program has expanded the scope of rewards and increased the number of recipients.
Additionally, LexisNexis (U.S.), a provider of patent information analysis services, selected AGC for the second consecutive year in its “Innovation Momentum 2024: The Global Top 100” report as one of the “100 Innovative Companies Leading the Future of Science and Technology Worldwide.” This is an assessment of the Company’s competitiveness based on the value of its patents, and shows that our strategic IP activities linked to the incentive system are working well.
Meanwhile, to expand our business more globally, it is also important for us to actively participate in rule-making. As the AGC Group’s Chief Technical Of_cer, I am also committed to standardization activities. We will continue to promote proactive intellectual property and standardization activities that contribute to our business.

Strengthening our footing for further growth

In today’s world, with technologies such as edge computing and generative AI emerging one after another, and social conditions and industrial structures changing rapidly, it is impossible to predict who the winners will be in this era of an uncertain future. However, we want to be the type of company that can respond to the changing times and succeed. It is important to steadily transform our business portfolio, reform businesses that are stagnant, and grow aggressive businesses. As a technical division, it is essential to be prepared to appropriately address major changes before they occur and as they happen. To that end, we are accelerating our efforts in materials informatics (MI) using AI, big data analysis, data mining, and other technologies. During the period of the new medium-term management plan, we intend to strengthen our products for future growth while actively incorporating new technologies. These initiatives signify our aim to remain a reliable and indispensable presence for our customers at all times. We aim for AGC to be a company that customers always feel is there for them whenever the world or business environment changes.
For the growth of individuals and the company, it is important to actively connect with the outside world. Innovations will emerge from these new connections, and we can expect to see Nobel Prize-level results. I would like to actively create such opportunities and contribute to the continued growth of the AGC Group into the future, and I would personally like to actively participate in and contribute to networking opportunities both inside and outside the Group.