CTO MESSAGE
Developing Technologies to Connect the Flow of Five Elements of Society and Promote a Cycle of Well-Being
Yoshifumi Kato : Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Senior Executive Officer
Supporting the Continuation of Society’s Activities
Both as a supplier of vehicle systems that enable the free movement of people and the flow of goods and as a Monozukuri company, DENSO has a responsibility to support the continuation of society’s activities and to balance global environmental protection with sustained economic growth.
With respect to the investment of management resources in technology development over the past five years, we have invested ¥600 billion in electric vehicle popularization, carbon neutrality, and other fields related to energy utilization in the green domain; ¥1,260 billion in advanced driver assistance, automated driving, and other fields related to the free movement of people and the flow of goods in the peace of mind domain; and ¥199 billion in common fundamental technologies.
As a result, in the green domain, the revenue of the Electrification Systems Business Group grew from ¥910 billion in fiscal 2019 to ¥1,040 billion in fiscal 2023. In addition, we have started up the mass production of BEV SiC inverters, which enable a significant reduction in power consumption. In the peace of mind domain, the Mobility Electronics Business, which is centered on ADAS and system control units, achieved a marked increase in revenue, from ¥1,110 billion in fiscal 2019 to ¥1,610 billion in fiscal 2023. During this period, we extended the range of accident scenarios covered by the Global Safety Package (GSP) sensor system for ADAS through the marketing of GSP2 and GSP3. In addition, for existing vehicles, we have been promoting the spread of safety devices by offering retro-fitted devices that prevent accelerator pedal errors.
To achieve carbon-neutral Monozukuri and eliminate traffic accident fatalities by fiscal 2036, we will further accelerate the spread of our products throughout society by ramping up technology development and business scale.
Extending the Cycle of Well-Being from Vehicles to Society as a Whole Based on Five Elements of Society
Many of our efforts are aimed at offsetting the negatives, including initiatives aimed at carbon neutrality, the minimization of resource requirements, the elimination of traffic accident fatalities, relief for those who find traveling challenging, and increasing distribution efficiency through “white logistics.” A positive cycle of well-being will take effect when we not only eliminate negatives but also provide new, positive value. To achieve this, DENSO will create new value by utilizing the flow of data to visualize and connect the free movement of people, the flow of goods, energy utilization, and minimization of resource requirements. Such connections will enable a cycle of well-being to extend beyond vehicles to encompass society as a whole.
For example, when a vehicle is running it has value in terms of the free movement of people and the flow of goods. If the vehicle is electric, however, it also provides value in relation to energy utilization by storing electricity when parked. Similarly, vehicles that can be recycled at the end of their service lives contribute value through the minimization of resource requirements. Moreover, the flow of data can be used to visualize the flow of these elements of society and also to connect the flow of different elements of society.
Our areas of expertise are in the movement of people and goods as a mobility-focused company, the optimization of energy and resources as a manufacturer, and data generation and management as the inventor of the QR Code®.
We will capitalize on these areas of expertise to advance development that connects things and information, manufacturers and customers, and people and vehicles. In this way, we will create and circulate new well-being value that connects society. Specifically, DENSO will conduct research on human nature and develop automated driving technology to eliminate traffic accident fatalities, provide relief for those who find traveling challenging, and advance white logistics initiatives; utilize catalyst technology in the development of fuel cells and systems for the capturing of CO2 to help realize carbon neutrality; leverage factory automation technology for vehicle recycling to create systems for scrap vehicle disassembly and material sorting; and develop the QR Code® and quantum computing technology to enable the protection, distribution, and utilization of data.