日本の製造業 成長市場の攻略で巻き返しを

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jun. 7, 2012)
Japan's manufacturers should focus on growth markets
日本の製造業　成長市場の攻略で巻き返しを（6月6日付・読売社説）

Japan's manufacturing sector faces serious challenges. The nation must urgently review its strategies to regain the industries' overall competitiveness.
　日本の製造業は、厳しい試練に直面している。競争力を回復する戦略の練り直しが急務だ。

The government has compiled this year's White Paper on Manufacturing Industries, which examines the pressing issues of a sector often described as "losing in business projects despite winning in technological prowess."
　政府は今年のものづくり白書をまとめ、「技術で勝って事業で負ける」という製造業の現状と課題を分析した。

Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. have all posted record deficits primarily because of poor results in their flat-panel television businesses, while semiconductor manufacturer Elpida Memory, Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Automakers have been lagging behind their U.S. and European rivals in China, the world's largest market.
　パナソニック、ソニー、シャープは、テレビの不振で過去最大の赤字を計上し、半導体のエルピーダメモリは経営危機に陥った。自動車各社も世界最大の中国市場で欧米メーカーに出遅れている。

It is a serious situation in which Japan's entire manufacturing sector--once the nation's forte--has nearly crumbled due to the yen's hyperappreciation.
　超円高が逆風となり、「お家芸」だった製造業が、ほぼ総崩れという深刻な状況だ。

Why have Japanese manufacturers lost their competitiveness so rapidly?
　なぜ、日本企業の競争力は急速に低下したのだろうか。

It is primarily because they "responded slowly to international structural changes," as the white paper put it.
　白書が指摘している通り、「国際的な構造変化への対応が遅れた」のが主因である。

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Time to shift from all-in-one system

Japanese companies used to enjoy the advantage of a system in which they covered the entire production process from planning and developing to manufacturing.
　日本企業のこれまでの強みは、製品の企画・開発から製造まで一貫して取り組む体制だった。

But today, companies in emerging countries have boosted their competitiveness as they have become able to mass-produce goods at low cost. Many overseas firms--with Apple Inc. of the United States as a good example--focus only on planning and developing products, while commissioning their assembly to manufacturers in emerging countries.
　ところが、今では、新興国企業も低コストで大量生産が可能になり、競争力を強化した。米アップルのように、製品の企画や開発に集中し、製品組み立ては新興国企業に委託するケースも多い。

Japanese manufacturers' lack of similar focus has them trapped--they cannot make profits despite their technological advantages because their indecisive stances have caused them to lose global market share.
　日本企業は技術力はあるのに、どっちつかずで世界の販売シェアを落とし、利益を稼げない。そんな隘路(あいろ)に陥っている。

To make matters worse, Japanese companies have been failing to promptly respond to changes in demand in emerging markets, which have an exploding number of middle-income households.
　一方、中間所得層が爆発的に増加している新興国市場の変化に対しても日本企業の対応は鈍い。

The white paper poses a question: "Whom should manufacturing serve?" This seems to encourage manufacturers to discover needs in growth markets and apply their management resources to meeting such needs.
　「誰のためのものづくりか」という白書の問いかけは、成長市場のニーズを発掘し、経営資源を投入することを促したものだ。

We urge Japanese makers to accelerate their efforts to develop low- and mid-priced products for emerging markets, such as other Asian countries. They also should establish an appropriate system of international division of labor to quickly assemble products in places close to target markets.
　アジアなどの新興国市場向けの低・中価格の製品開発を加速するとともに、市場に近い現地で迅速に製造する最適な国際分業体制の構築を進めてもらいたい。

It is surely important for Japanese manufacturers to select business projects and concentrate their resources on them. It is difficult, however, for them to turn their fortunes around if they only focus on downsizing their operations. These firms should keep a sharp eye out to identify fields in which they can demonstrate competitiveness.
　「事業の選択と集中」は大事だが、単なる事業縮小では活路を見いだせない。自社の競争力を発揮できる目利き力が問われる。

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Strengthen advantages

If Japanese companies relocate more and more of their manufacturing functions overseas, however, it will accelerate the hollowing-out of domestic industries and declining employment. There is also concern that Japanese industrial culture--characterized by achieving goals and solving problems--will deteriorate.
　ただ、生産拠点の海外移転が加速すると、国内の空洞化が進み、雇用が減少する。日本の強みである現場力の低下も懸念される。

In this regard, it is appropriate for the white paper to call for the nation's manufacturing sector to strengthen its "mother factory" function to support overseas production sites. We urge manufacturers to establish strategies to boost their research and development divisions, as well as their flagship factories.
　白書が、海外拠点を支援する国内の「マザー機能」の強化を求めたのは妥当だ。各社は、日本での研究開発部門や基幹工場を充実させる戦略を工夫してほしい。

The government also has an important role to play in reviving the nation's manufacturing industry. It should overcome its delay in signing bilateral economic partnership agreements. It should also decide to take part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership multinational trade framework as soon as possible.
　製造業の復活へ、政府の役割も重要だ。経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）の出遅れを挽回し、環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）の早期参加も決断しなければならない。

To maintain domestic manufacturing functions, moreover, it is crucial for the government to ensure a stable electric power supply by accelerating efforts to reactivate idled nuclear reactors.
　国内生産の維持には、原子力発電所の再稼働を急ぎ、電力の安定供給を図ることも不可欠だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 6, 2012)
（2012年6月6日01時29分 読売新聞）