This year I had the opportunity to visit numerous Sony sites in Japan and across the world, with the aim of speaking directly with as many of you as possible, and to share our Purpose & Values, which I defined this January.

For my final blog of the year, I would like to touch on my experiences on the front lines of our manufacturing sites responsible for creating products that embodies Sony's "Light to Display" technologies, that help to differentiate our products. I visited these sites during November and December, either side of my trip to India that I introduced in my previous post.

■ Laser Diodes

In late November, I visited Shiroishi-Zao Tec, Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's facility located in Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. Shiroishi-Zao Tec, which manufactures laser diodes, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. It was the only Japan-based semiconductor factories that I hadn't visited before, so I took this opportunity to view the production lines and also hold a town hall meeting to meet the employees.

Speaking at the Town hall meeting

The application for these laser diodes have evolved considerably over the course of the site's 50 years in operation. It originally developed and produced lasers for reading and writing CDs, DVDs, and BDs, and recently expanded its business to include lasers used for optical transmission of information. Going forward, Shiroishi-Zao Tec's laser technologies is expected to play a key role in smartphone and automotive sensing, where demand is anticipated to increase.

■ α™ and Xperia

In early December, I paid a visit to two α-related manufacturing sites in Thailand. α, which is receiving acclaim from professional photographers, is another embodiment of the "Light to Display" concept, in that it captures light using image sensors and lenses, and displays the image through the viewfinder.

My first stop was at Sony Technology (Thailand)-Chonburi (STT-C), located south of Bangkok, which is the primary manufacturing site for α bodies and lenses. I then made my way to Sony Device Technology (Thailand) (SDT), to the north of Bangkok, whose operations include assembly processes for α image sensors, and the production of OLED micro displays for viewfinders. At STT-C I viewed their manufacturing operations that are capable of creating a wide variety of α bodies and lenses in small lots, while at SDT I observed the back-end processing being carried out of image sensors mainly manufactured at our site in Kumamoto, Japan.

The manufacturing process for the body and lens of α cameras

Workflow of image sensor assembly process

After that, at Sony Technology (Thailand)-Bangkadi (STT-B), which is located on the same site as SDT, I visited the manufacturing operations for Xperia smartphones, which have become the main image capturing devices of choice for many people.

Viewing the production lines at STT-B

I actually visited this same facility four years ago when I was CFO, but at the time, we had only just begun to shift Xperia production from Beijing to Bangkadi. With this recent visit, I was able to see for myself how STT-B has transformed into a Sony production hub fully adopting Sony processes and systems from procurement to parts control, right through to manufacturing.

■ BRAVIA®

Next, I visited Kuala Lumpur Technology Center (KL Tec) of Sony EMCS (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (SOEM), which is the central manufacturing facility for our BRAVIA TVs that display and deliver the kando content developed by creators, directly to users. KL Tec is what is positioned as a "mother factory," playing a key role in the global supply chain and handling every aspect of TV production, from product planning and design, to procurement, manufacturing, quality control and CS.

Alongside the highly diverse team at KL Tec
Employees from a total of 7 countries including Malaysia work at KL Tec,
and there is proactive employment of individuals with disabilities

This was my first visit to KL Tec in four years, and in addition to efficiency gains from actively promoting automation, I was also able to see the initiatives under way in pursuit of full automation across every part of the TV manufacturing process. The co-location of design, engineering and manufacturing functions promotes teamwork and daily collaboration, and I sensed that these benefits are being reflected in their design that enables automation.

Auto mount process being carried out at KL Tec	Fully automated assembly lines

At the end of each of my visits in Thailand and Malaysia I held town hall meetings and answered questions from employees.

■ The Year Ahead

As of year-end, it will have been 21 months since I became President of Sony. My theme for this second year was to share our Purpose & Values with all of you around the world, and for us to work together in the pursuit of new value creation.

Throughout my visits to our numerous sites worldwide, what I sensed at all of them is the unique diversity of Sony's talent, businesses, and technologies. Based on our Purpose to "Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology," let's continue to turn this diversity into our strength, and strive to create even greater value in the coming year together. I wish you all a refreshing and relaxing holiday season, and let us make next year an even better one than ever!