Dialogue
Strengthening Monozukuri (Manufacturing) Capabilities and 4-Region Global Sales Structure
– Addressing Customer Challenges around the World
Naoto Sugimune, Manufacturing Technology Supervisory, and Kenichi Sano, Sales Supervisory, sat down together to discuss the key points of Maxell’s Front-runner strategy, exchanging views on the growth strategy for the Energy segment from both the manufacturing and sales perspectives.
Strengths as the front-runner in the small battery sector
SanoBatteries are Maxell’s founding product, and we have continued to make high-performance batteries, offering heat resistance, long service life, and high reliability, in response to changing needs in the market. With the addition of Maxell Sakura, we have expanded our Group’s market share even further, and we now have more solutions to offer for solving customer challenges.
Even with a long service life, primary batteries still need to be replaced every few years. That is why we are focusing on all-solid-state batteries, which are maintenance-free and require no replacement. We are currently proposing these batteries in module form to make them easier for customers to use, and demand is steadily increasing. To expand their range of applications, we are also developing fields where all-solid-state batteries are a must. In the space sector, for example, in June 2026, we announced the start of joint research with JAXA to develop all-solid-state batteries for satellites. We intend to keep developing high-spec products that meet these kinds of needs.
SugimuneTo expand the applications of all-solid-state batteries, we need to compete on world-class technology. The key to manufacturing all-solid-state batteries is molding technology. When we moved into the mass production phase, we built molds through trial and error, accumulated know-how in controlling various conditions such as thickness, pressure, and time, and cleared one challenge after another through continuous improvement. Because all-solid-state batteries use highly specialized materials, ensuring safety is also critical. Having overcome these hurdles, we believe Maxell has established a clear technological advantage.
SanoOur mass production molding process is something that we can genuinely be proud of, both internally and externally. Improving our monozukuri (manufacturing) capabilities is also essential from the standpoint of improving capital efficiency. We have used ROIC as a management indicator since fiscal 2019, and as a monozukuri (manufacturing)-related indicator correlated with ROIC, we have introduced Profit Potential (PP), calculated as operating profit divided by inventory value. We are pursuing technology development and investment to raise operating profit, and timely manufacturing to reduce inventory.
Sales offices in 4 regions work together to drive our global business
SanoMaxell has sales offices in 4 regions around the world: Japan, North America, Europe, and Asia. Under this structure, our sales staff identify customer needs worldwide, and the technology seeds we cultivate by solving their challenges become the foundation for creating Maxell’s unique value and allow us to develop competitive, high-quality products. We then roll these products back out across our 4 regions, targeting the top 3 companies in various industries, to expand sales. The 4 regions work together, and we actually discuss sales opportunities in an eastward direction: products that sell well in Japan are proposed in North America, products that sell well in North America are proposed in Europe, and products that sell well in Europe are proposed in Asia. As for emerging markets, we are currently focusing our sales efforts on India.
SugimuneWhen engaging with customers, we’ve made sure our engineers accompany the sales team on visits, and that’s how we’ve built relationships of trust.
SanoThat’s right. The key is talking directly with the engineers on the customer side, which is why it’s so important for our own engineers to visit customers and engage in in-depth discussions about solutions. At Maxell, it’s part of our corporate culture for engineers to visit customers from early in their careers. This sometimes leads to heated debate between sales staff, who push for “faster and cheaper” from the customer’s perspective, and engineers, who want to build “good products.” I feel we see less of this kind of exchange these days, but I believe that such active debate helps sales and engineering staff to enhance each other’s abilities.
Maxell Group’s 4 global business regions
Future outlook for the Energy business, the driving force behind Maxell’s growth
SugimuneOur resources are limited, so we want to focus people and capital on businesses with strong growth potential, such as small batteries, while also strengthening our ability to work across the organization. We plan to do this by increasing the mobility of our people through cross-functional organization and by setting up teams that handle a range of different technologies.
We also believe that, in the mass production phase of all-solid-state batteries, we need to make use of AI technologies to advance our production processes, and we have begun discussions with partner companies that are ahead of us in this field.
Looking ahead, we need to aim for a world where monozukuri (manufacturing) can be carried out without human intervention. While we devote resources to running our current business, we are also looking to the future and taking steps to evolve our manufacturing. President Nakamura, Sano, and I have talked about wanting to become a company that can propose solutions even faster than our customers ask for them, exceeding their expectations.
Murata Manufacturing, the predecessor of Maxell Sakura, which became a subsidiary through M&A, was once our rival in the battery business. Now, however, we are part of the same group, and exchanges between our respective engineers are unlocking new perspectives. Our expectations for the future are very high. We would like to increase personnel rotations between our Ono Works and the newly added Koriyama Works to further energize the organization and drive technology development.
＞ See the Business Integration through M&A – Toward Micro Battery Leader
SanoTo create more of the unique monozukuri (manufacturing) that only Maxell can offer, our sales staff need to look beyond Japan’s small market and go out into the world to gather more information. We want to give employees more opportunities to experience overseas markets, including overseas assignments, and grow the number of people who can thrive across our 4 global regions.
SugimuneMaxell holds the world’s top share of small heat-resistant CR batteries*. We have built relationships of trust with our customers by clearing numerous high hurdles together on the path to commercialization, and we intend to keep strengthening our technical capabilities in production, product development, and quality control so that we can continue solving our customers’ challenges.
For CR batteries, we need to pursue mass production technology for high-efficiency, high-quality small batteries (micro batteries). The key going forward is “how fast we can manufacture small products.” Automobiles used to be the main market for Maxell’s CR batteries, but demand has now spread into the medical field as well, particularly for CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) devices. Customers value the added benefits of safety, reliability, and long service life, and demand has grown so much that we plan to expand our production lines starting in the second half of fiscal 2026. The medical field calls for more advanced design, closer technological collaboration with customers, material development involving suppliers, and process design for mass production, and we are drawing on Maxell’s strengths to meet these demanding customer requirements.