FUJIO MITARAI
Chairman and CEO
Canon Inc.
Few men embody the strength and spirit of Japanese business like Fujio Mitarai, the ebullient, ageless chairman and CEO of Canon Inc. Mitarai is quick with a smile and a firm handshake and just as quick to answer questions about his company.
Asked if he can imagine what Canon will look like in 2020, he barely pauses to reflect. “It will be largely driven by new business domains, things that are now only beginning to take shape,” he says. “In particular, medical-related equipment will become a much bigger part of our business.” He notes that for some time, Canon has been developing medical imaging technologies to give doctors new tools with which to “see” into a patient’s body. The firm has been working closely with researchers at Kyoto University and Stanford University to develop a host of new technologies that will allow doctors to diagnose disease sooner and more accurately than in the past. Yet Mitarai hints that this is only the beginning: “Working together with universities and other R&D centers, Canon will become a major player in new medical technologies.”
Another topic that energizes the firm’s visionary chief executive is the multiple benefits to be gained from sustainable business planning. As just one example of how Canon is changing, he points to the company’s newest plant, now under construction in Virginia. “Right now, we produce toner cartridges [for printers and copiers] in Asia, then ship them by sea to the U.S. and other markets. It takes about two weeks on the water and several days by land to deliver the products to retailers.” He doesn’t need to remind us that in two weeks an oceangoing freighter burns a lot of bunker fuel, a notoriously dirty petroleum product that’s much worse for the environment than gasoline.
“We want to create a more environmentally friendly cycle
for our products: build in America, consume in America,
recycle in America and reuse in America.”
Now, Mitarai says, Canon is beginning a monumental shift that will have a big impact on its business and an even bigger impact on the environment. “In the spring of 2010, we will open a huge new plant to produce toner cartridges in the U.S.,” he explains. “In addition to shrinking delivery times, this will greatly reduce ocean shipments, which will dramatically reduce CO2 emissions.” Moreover, the new factory will be largely automated and hyper-efficient, lowering the use of both energy and natural resources.
“This is part of our new strategy,” he notes. “It’s more sustainable for the planet and more sensible from a business perspective. We want to create a more environmentally friendly life cycle for our products. In this case, build in America, consume in America, recycle in America and reuse in America. Gradually, we will adopt this same business structure around the world.”
Mitarai sees even bigger things ahead. “In the coming decade I would like to further decentralize Canon’s operations. One key is to build a major R&D center in the United States. The U.S. attracts brilliant minds from around the world, and it is an excellent environment for undertaking cooperative research with universities. I would like to see our local R&D create new products in America, local factories manufacture those products and then export them to markets around the world.” In time, he explains, the same system will take root in Europe, and Canon will become a truly global enterprise with a three-legged base—North America, Europe and Asia. “If we can lay that structural foundation and at the same time foster the kind of outstanding human resources we need to bring it to life,” the chief executive says emphatically, “we will establish Canon on a firm footing to grow throughout this century.”
