Hitachi elevates Thailand to hub role

 
 Under this ambition, the Japanese technology giant will establish Thailand as a hub for a region encompassing India and the Asean countries in order to expand its business in these economies.
The company expects to generate total revenue in Thailand of around 300 billion yen in fiscal 2021, representing growth of 50 per cent from fiscal 2017.
Toshiaki Higashihara, chief executive officer and president of Hitachi, told the Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2018 event that the firm aims to resolve a variety of social issues together with customers throughout the world and “to create a promising and hopeful society”.
With this goal, the company will continue to promote collaborative creation by targeting high-efficiency production models in order to achieve mass customisation and resolve social issues and improve people’s quality of life.
"Social issues throughout the world continue to grow and are becoming increasingly complex. Two examples are labour shortages resulting from urbanisation and the ageing population, and growing security threats in both the physical and cyber worlds,” Toshiaki said.
As part of its efforts, the firm will create a chain of innovation, aiming for it to become an innovation partner for the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). Toshiaki said this is period when stakeholders have come to expect to innovations.
“Hitachi will continue its active efforts to foster individuals who will work inside and outside of the company and contribute to the creation of a rich future,” Toshiaki said. “It will use the Lumada platform for value creation, combining front-line knowledge in information technology (IT), operational technologies (OT) and products, as it further expands Collaborative creation will be pursued with a view towards society of the future.”

He said that, in March, the firm plans to complete construction of a building that will house the Central Research Laboratory in Kokubunji in Tokyo. It will be based on what the company calls the collaborative forest concept and feature an environment and facilities for collaborative creation that will accommodate customers from all over the world. 
Tadashi Hisanaga, manager of the public relations and investor relations department at Hitachi, said the Thai market has potential for high growth. Accordingly, the firm is setting up Thailand for its hub role in the market covering Asean and India. In this role, it will be used for the distribution of products, servers and solutions to support the market.
 “Thailand is important and has high potential for us as a country,” said Hisanaga. “We have therefore set up Thailand as a hub for India and Asean countries in the areas of escalators and elevators. Thai government also has the direction to boost the country under its Thailand 4.0 scheme.”
The factors seen driving Hitachi’s business growth in Thailand include continued investment in the country, said Hisanaga. The firm has worked with business partners on investments such as the Red Line Skytrain route and is providing an innovation platform to support the development of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The company in fiscal 2017 (April 2017-March 2018) gained revenue of 200 billion yen, with the major source from automobile parts, materials for manufacturing and chemical products. 
Hitachi last month opened the Lumada centre in Amata City Chonburi, within the EEC, and from where it will provide the Lumada platform to the market. The centre also integrates IoT solutions from countries such as Japan, China and the US.
The Lumada is an IoT platform designed for people to connect, cooperate and co-create solutions with partners.