Bridgestone Corporation has become a member of The Valuable 500, a global movement committed to making disability inclusion a greater part of the business leadership agenda. Through this partnership, Bridgestone says it and other top companies around the world are “committing to help build and promote a society that realises the value of the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities.”
CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform, has named Bridgestone Corporation to its Supplier Engagement Leaderboard for a second year in a row. It is also the fourth time in total that it has included Bridgestone on the Leaderboard with the highest rating of ‘A’ in Supplier Engagement Rating.
Bridgestone Corporation has released a new commemorative logo and webpage to mark the 90th anniversary of its founding. The company notes that as well as highlighting the anniversary milestone, the logo looks to the future that lies beyond. “It also expresses a commitment to pursuing innovation and swift progress while treasuring its connections with stakeholders.”
The corona crisis has left its mark on Bridgestone Corporation, with the Japanese firm reporting for the 2020 fiscal year its first net loss in 69 years, a loss of 23.3 billion yen (£159.2 million). The operating result also fell significantly: While revenue decreased 14.6 per cent to 3.0 trillion yen (£20.5 billion), adjusted operating profit plummeted 35.0 per cent to 222.9 billion yen (£1.5 billion), representing a 7.4 per cent return on sales.
Bridgestone Corporation has shared details of its Mid-Term Business Plan for the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, and this plan entails significant changes for the company’s manufacturing footprint. In a presentation given by chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi, Bridgestone outlines the direction this restructuring will take.
Bridgestone Corporation has invested in NEXT Logistics Japan, a company established by truck manufacturer Hino Motors in 2018 to explore new technologies and solutions for the logistics industry. The new investor will work together with NEXT Logistics Japan on a new long-distance transportation scheme that aims to reduce the number of drivers required for road haulage.
The dream of securing natural rubber supplies in the vicinity of production facilities and reducing dependency upon hevea rubber plantations has preoccupied Bridgestone Corporation for the past decade. Early in 2018 it announced a collaboration with genomic big data company NRGene to advance the commercialisation of guayule, and today Bridgestone shared the results of this four-year project. The combined effort has resulted in the partners successfully assembling a specific guayule genome.
Outlining Bridgestone Corporation’s Mid-Long Term Business Strategy on 22 December, chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi spoke of the company’s plans through to 2023. The immediate priority has been to implement crisis management measures to address the impact of COVID-19; Bridgestone began implementing these in 2020, and the measures extend into this year. Beyond this, Bridgestone will work to rebuild earning power within the core Tire & Rubber business.
Retreading solutions lie at the heart of Bridgestone Corporation’s new Sustainability Business Framework. Announcing details of the framework’s “retread centric model”, chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi shares that the tyre maker plans to utilise tyre monitoring technologies in order to offer customised retreads via a subscription model.
According to OECD estimates, the world will be home to more than 2.4 billion cars by 2050, around a billion more than exist today. This significant rise in the global vehicle parc will result in much higher demand for the raw materials needed to manufacture tyres. Bridgestone has turned to big data to help optimise rubber yields, and reports developing a system that leads to higher long-term yields.
As of 1 January 2021, Bridgestone Corporation will retire its current five-layer executive operation structure and adopt a three-layer structure in its place. The company states that it is adopting this new executive structure to “accelerate decision-making and transform into a leaner organisation.”
Bridgestone has announced a new campaign that invites its partners to participate in building a stronger society. Called ‘A Layered Journey’, the campaign highlights the ways Bridgestone is incorporating sustainability in its value chain with a focus upon its commitment to sustainable procurement of natural rubber.
As of 1 July, Masahiro Higashi will become Bridgestone Corporation’s global chief operating officer. He will succeed Akihiro Eto in this role following Eto’s retirement as COO and as representative executive officer on 30 June. Higashi also will hold the office of chief administration officer and become president and chief executive officer of BSJP, Bridgestone’s tyre and diversified products business in Japan.
Eight Bridgestone tyre plants in Japan will soon shut down for six production days in response to decreased demand. In addition, the company is closing three non-tyre production facilities for up to four days.
Tokyo has experienced more than its fair share of misfortune when it comes to hosting the Olympic Games. Confirmation came this week that, for the second time in modern Olympic history, the event wouldn’t take place as scheduled in the Japanese capital. The Games of the XXXII Olympiad are now expected to take place next year.
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Bridgestone Corporation
Bridgestone Corporation
Bridgestone Corporation
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