Greetings to all in the new year. As we enter this first month of 2022, the pandemic is a continuing theme that has created a wide range of uncertainties, both in business and throughout global societies. Here at Konica Minolta, we remain focused on how we can continue momentum and transform key social issues in the U.S. and around the world – all while we help our customers with digital transformations to create value for people and more sustainable business processes. As a company of more than 40,000 employees globally, we’re committed to a single purpose: to benefit our customers and our society at large.
Konica Minolta supports the 17 goals of the United Nations for Sustainable Development that offer a plan of action to support people, planet and prosperity around the world. The current agenda targets 2030 to reach the 17 goals, which are integrated and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. These dimensions encompass the five “Ps”: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. That partnership, to which we’re committed, is focused on the needs of the most vulnerable, and the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.
Specific to the U.S. this past year, the company and its employees have continued efforts to make a difference with support for four important nonprofit organizations, which may have not had the attention they deserved during the continued crises produced by the pandemic.
American Red Cross – Konica Minolta made a large donation in support of disaster relief this past fall.
National Kidney Foundation – As they did in 2020, Konica Minolta employees walked virtually to raise funds and awareness for the NKF this past November.
Blue Angels Foundation – The company and employees raised funds to support care for veterans in honor of Veterans Day.
Feeding America – The company made a $5 donation for each view of our annual holiday video.
We continue to offer more opportunities for our employees to give back through their volunteer efforts and giving initiatives that focus on environmental sustainability along with health and wellness.
Along those same lines, earlier this month, Konica Minolta Inc.’s President and CEO, Shoei Yamana, shared key focus areas for our global business as we look toward 2025. The first is on meeting the needs of our customers in diverse industries with optimal solutions to transform workstyles and improve service quality through our state-of-the-art technologies. This now includes digital transformation support to local governments in Japan. In October 2021, Konica Minolta Inc. established Konica Minolta Publitech, Inc., a subsidiary dedicated to government service. They’re currently helping 120 local governments across Japan visualize workloads, digitize processes and enhance the quality of civil services.
Konica Minolta also provides federal, state and local government agencies in the U.S. with solutions to streamline business processes, provide additional security and infrastructure optimization and improve organizational efficiencies. In an evolving global climate, government organizations face major challenges when it comes to the ability to streamline business processes. At the same time, government agencies are tasked with doing more with less, which only compounds the fact that local governments are constantly expected to provide excellent public services while also reducing costs.
Our second focus is facilitating business growth in the areas of measurement, inspection and diagnosis. We’re leveraging our imaging technology to “make the invisible visible,” which is something we’ve been perfecting since the founding of Konica Minolta. We will offer valuable solutions customized to the value chain of each industry. Just two examples include high-quality, high-efficiency manufacturing based on measurement and inspection data, and solutions that clarify disease mechanisms by using diagnosis data.
In April 2021, our healthcare division launched the CARE Program, Japan’s first platform to detect by genetic testing, the risk of diseases before they develop, in cooperation with Seirei Social Welfare Community. The CARE Program will provide healthy and unaffected people with personalized cancer-risk information based on genetic analysis and support early detection of diseases to provide preventive treatments.
Human capital is the true source of our ability to create and carry out the initiatives toward this transformation. Each of Konica Minolta’s members will tackle social problems as their own, with the aim to realize our corporate vision of “Imaging to the People” and expand co-creation with our customers and business partners.
Those of you familiar with Eastern astrology know that 2022 is the Year of the Tiger – a year when we can expect to see a renewed impetus for change, with displays of strength, bravery and ingenuity. After a few difficult years, Konica Minolta, like many organizations around the world, is rebuilding and renewing our efforts to make the company more valuable to our customers and to society.
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