Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.

Business Overview by Segment
Quality of Life Products

Continuing to contribute to society by providing higher quality value

A review of fiscal 2022

Takashi Kobayashi

Takashi Kobayashi
Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer

Business results for fiscal 2022 surpassed those of the previous fiscal year. Strong sales of healthcare products for North America, as well as film and sheets for pharmaceutical packaging and food products, and reflecting increases in the cost of raw materials in final sales prices, contributed to these results.

On the other hand, some products saw a decrease in revenue and profit due to soaring costs of energy and raw materials and inventory adjustments for semiconductors and other products due to a decline in demand for consumer products. This led to very different outcomes for different products even in the same field of business. Looking to the future, the year provided signs of hope, with an increase in inquiries for high-value-added optical sheets and insulating sheets in the field of industrial functional materials, and progress on our merger with Kawasumi Laboratories in the field of medical equipment.


Increasing Competitiveness by Maximizing Synergies and Developing Products with Support from a Diverse Array of Fields

Since our business integration with Kawasumi Laboratories in October 2021, we have strived to improve the management, organizational, and operational efficiency of our healthcare and medical equipment business. The synergies that were generated exceeded our initial expectations, and we were able to expand our business and improve profitability in fiscal 2022. Our S-Bio business has also benefited from the incorporation of diagnostics pharmaceuticals business SB Bioscience as a subsidiary in April 2021, from the perspective of both manufacturing and sales. We have also established a system to quickly commercialize products with higher added value by setting up a Bioscience Research Laboratory in Kobe. And we were able to expand sales of highly flexible 3D culture substrate materials for regenerative medicine by actively strengthening our alliances with global companies.

In our films and sheets business, the impact of COVID-19 infections promoted the digital transformation of sales activities. Webinars and remote factory tours utilizing digital technologies were well received, and helped to strengthen our relationships with customers. In the pharmaceutical packaging business, we increased market share by steadily taking on new projects for generic pharmaceuticals. In the industrial sector we are seeing increased transactions in the Asia and ASEAN markets, and in the food products sector, we have entered market after market with our environmentally friendly films made from biomass raw materials.

In the industrial functional materials business and Waterproofing-related business, we will strive to increase the sales ratio of high value-added products and improve profitability.

[Strategic products]

Gain a favorable position in the market with high value-added differentiated products

In the medical devices segment of our healthcare business, we aim to expand sales by strengthening our lineup of products in the markets for endovascular treatment devices and gastrointestinal stents. In the S-Bio business, we have globalized our drug discovery support business by expanding glycan solutions.

In the films and sheets business, we plan to further differentiate ourselves by expanding our lineup of environmentally friendly products. And in manufacturing, Smart Factory operations are moving forward steadily with the introduction of autopilot technology. In all of our businesses, we will strive to review our portfolio and accelerate the shift to growth areas.

As part of our efforts to achieve the SDGs, we have expanded our lineup of biomass and mono-materials for pharmaceutical packaging in the films and sheets business. In the area of food products, we offer a wide variety of products that help to reduce food loss, including skin packaging that delivers improved design and taste in addition to excellent freshness retention, and our “P-Plus®” freshness-preserving film that provides anti-fog and anti-mold functions.

In the area of industrial functional materials, applying high-durability polycarbonate helps lengthen service life. We are developing and bringing to market new products for a variety of applications. These include heat-ray reflective polycarbonate that reduces energy loss in living environments, machinable insulation sheets optimized for vehicle electrification, and optical control sheets to enhance automobile driving safety.

In the area of Waterproofing-related, we support a resource recycling-oriented society through high-durability sheets that extend service life, waste reduction, and obtaining the Eco Mark for parts made from recycled waterproof sheet scraps. In this segment, where products that affect people's lives and health account for the majority of our business areas, we will intensify our efforts by designating areas of focus as we seek to contribute toward achieving the SDGs by creating markets and increasing our market share.

Business Strategy to Achieve Medium-term Business Plan Targets


Aiming to Achieve "Top Share in Niche Markets" with Goods and Services


We will identify growth markets where we can leverage our strengths, review our business portfolio to ensure it is suited to a carbon-neutral society, and develop new applications, new markets, and new customers. At the same time, we will build business models that combine goods and services in areas where our company is strong, and tie these to business expansion. We will work to promote digital transformation (DX) in all departments, and strive for cost-competitive manufacturing that achieves both increased productivity and stable quality together with work-style reforms.

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