We’re proud to have been innovating for the good of society for 150 years, working tirelessly to achieve our vision of “Imaging to the People”. Konica Minolta has identified five themes that will create added value and solve predicted social and environmental issues between now and 2030. As we look to the future, we’re guided by these five material issues. We spoke to Natsuki Yamamoto, General Manager of FORXAI Business Operations, Konica Minolta, Inc.. He talked to us about how Konica Minolta is addressing one of the five material issues that underpins our goals: addressing climate change.
Natsuki Yamamoto: I think the imaging IoT area of the business field is very strongly related to our core values. Core values mean our core technology. Now we have four definitions: the materials, optics, image processing and the Microfabrication. This is the core source of the value proposition. So that's why I believe these four core technologies create very unique solutions to the market, or not only the market, but also the customer or society. So that's why FORXAI is related for all of four core technologies.
Natsuki Yamamoto: I think the FORXAI is realising “Imaging to the People” itself. It’s directly linked to the philosophy, so that’s why we have to realise our current business creation to the market. It’s very important to the future.
Natsuki Yamamoto: In FORXAI business operations, we are handling not only the imaging processing technology, but also the AI technology. Based on our core imaging historical technology, we can add a more unique value proposition by adding our core AI technology into that. This is a very unique thing to create.
Natsuki Yamamoto: Our gas monitoring business. We provide the gas monitoring systems to customers. However, customers use this camera monitoring system to detect or analyse the gas leak detection in their facilities. In the US market, EPA – a Bureau of the Environmental Protection Act – is a government program. They request that oil and gas operators detect, measure the leak volume of the methane or greenhouse gas itself to align with the framework of the National Unions Act. So, that’s why our customers now need to use the solutions which can detect, measure and quantify the leaking volume of the methane itself. And our gas monitoring system is, in the past, just only to make the invisible visible to the market. We converted to the solutions that methane monitoring system to the market. Then after that, the big customers like ConocoPihillips or Total Energies, we say that it’s very super measure companies in the oil and gas business. They evaluated that our solutions are very valuable to detect, monitor, measure and quantify the leaking volume of the methane itself to their facilities. So that’s why they decided to use and purchase our gas monitoring services in the fourth quarter of the 2022 fiscal year. That’s the meaning of our gas monitoring system – to directly contribute to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the methane itself at first. The gas monitoring system addresses climate change.
Natsuki Yamamoto: If a customer uses our solutions or technologies in their daily activities which can directly link to the greenhouse gas emission reduction, then Konica Minolta can also contribute to not only activities, but also the customers’ actions to reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Natsuki Yamamoto: We have 150 years of history, a very old and unique company – it’s my belief, not only me, but all people in Konica Minolta. But in the past five or ten years, we have tried to shift our core value proposition from the technology itself to the service, digital transformation, IT or data or such kind of approach. However, we have 150 years of history based on our core technology and the product itself. So in Japanese we say ‘the maker’ or the ‘monzokuri’ itself. It’s our core value proposition.
Natsuki Yamamoto: By using the FORXAI, it’s a first step for the next 150 years.
Natsuki Yamamoto: All people cannot see, watch or look at the whole thing in the phenomena in the world or the daily activities. So that’s why if we make invisible visible solutions with the AI or the related technology value proposition, we can achieve future unique solutions to the market. It’s clear that Natsuki believes that FORXAI is key to achieving Konica Minolta’s vision of “Imaging to the People”. The innovations in gas monitoring he discussed show just how important it is to protect the planet for future generations by driving environmental impact today.