Chapter 4 (2001-2005) | HISTORY | 50 Years of Nidec Group

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2001

INDEX

1973-1977

1978-1988

1989-2000

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005

2006-2009

2010-2014

2015-2018

2019-2023

2001

Jan.

Nidec Precision Philippines Corporation is established as an in-house parts manufacturing base for HDD spindle motors.

The production of fans for cooling car seats starts.

Apr.

A full-scale production of FDB motors starts at Nidec Philippines Corporation.

Sep.

The company’s power supply business is transferred to Nipron Co., Ltd.

Nidec Is Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Oct.

Taiwan Technical Center is established in Nidec Taiwan Corporation.

The production of HDD spindle motors ends, and a die business starts at Nidec (Dalian) Ltd.

2002

Apr.

Nidec System Engineering (Zhejiang) Corporation is established in the city of Pinghu, China, as a production base for HDD spindle motors.

The company merges with Nidec Electronics Corporation to form Tottori Technical Center.

A full-scale production of FDB motors starts at Nidec Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Jun.

Nidec (Dongguan) Ltd. is established in China as a production base for brushless DC motors.

2003

Feb.

Nidec (Shanghai) International Trading Co., Ltd., is established as a locally-incorporated company.

Mar.

The construction of the new head office building and Central Technical Laboratory in Minami-ku, Kyoto, is completed.

The production of large fans for cell phone base stations and other telecommunications equipment starts.

May

The Central Research Laboratory merges with other research facilities to form the Central Technical Laboratory.

The company issues stock options (subscription rights) to its directors and employees.

Business Operations Start in the New Head Office Building.

New Head Office building

May

Celebrations Are Held to Mark the Completion of the New Building.

Held celebrations to mark the completion of the new building

Jul.

A Ceremony Is Held to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Company's Founding.

30th Anniversary Celebration

Oct.

Nidec Takes a Stake in Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Capital participation in Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co.
(August 6, 2003, Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

2004

Apr.

Sankyo Logistics is renamed Nidec Logistics Corporation.

Jun.

The company revises its environmental philosophy and establishes an environmental policy to enhance environmental management system, and issues Environmental Report, the predecessor to the CSR Report.

2005

Apr.

The Construction of the South Building of Nidec Tokyo Building Is Completed. The Motor Engineering Research Laboratory Is Established.

Nidec Tokyo Building completed.

Jun.

The construction of Nidec Group Precision Processing Center is completed in the city of Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture.

Oct.

Nidec Vietnam Corporation, a locallyincorporated company, is established.

Go to Chapter 5 (2006-2009)

Nidec Is Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Since the end of the 1990s, Nidec had been restructuring its group companies from affiliates under the equity method to consolidated subsidiaries, and in 2001, the company started consolidated management. On September 27, 2001 (local time), the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It was the 15th Japanese company to achieve this feat. The trading code was “NJ,” and the initial price was $34.50 at 9:30 a.m. on the day of listing.

Incidentally, just days before the listing, on September 11, the terrorist attacks on the United States occurred. Prior to the listing, the company donated $100,000 to The NYSE Fallen Heroes Fund to show its respect for the NYPD and firefighters who were killed in the terrorist attacks.

In April 2004, three years after listing on the NYSE, the company and its 110-plus consolidated group companies switched their accounting procedures to US-GAAP.

Business Operations Start in the New Head Office Building.

In 2003, the 30th anniversary of the company’s founding, the company relocated its head office functions to a new head office building just completed at the end of March, and began operations on May 6, 2003 as the new head office and Central Technical Laboratory. The new building, with a site area of 18,650 m² and a total floor area of 37,960 m², has 22 stories above ground and two below, and is located on a vast 22,000 m² site spanning Kuze, Minami-ku, Kyoto, and Morimoto-cho, Muko, both in Kyoto Prefecture. The exterior of the building, which resembles a space shuttle, is composed of a high-rise building, the tallest in Kyoto at 100.6 m, and a low-rise building lined with laboratory buildings, and has attracted attention as a new landmark in the ancient capital of Kyoto.

It took more than two years to complete from the acquisition of the site in March 1998 to the start of construction in July 2000. This was due to a pre-construction excavation survey that revealed the construction site to be part of the Nagaokakyo area, which contains buried cultural properties, and the design thus had to be changed.

Celebrations Are Held to Mark the Completion of the New Building.

On May 20, 2003, prior to the company’s 30th anniversary ceremony, a celebration and buffet party were held to mark the completion of the new head office and Central Technical Laboratory. The event was attended by approximately 300 guests, including Keiji Yamada, Governor of Kyoto Prefecture; Yorikane Masumoto, Mayor of Kyoto; Junichi Murata, Chairman of the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Seiichi Asaka, President of NSK Ltd.; Kazuo Inamori, Chairman Emeritus of Kyocera Corporation; and other guests associated with Kyoto. At the celebration, Nagamori expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “We are still not worthy of our new building, and we will do our best to ensure that everyone will think of us as worthy of it.”

A Ceremony Is Held to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Company's Founding.

On July 23, 2003, Nidec celebrated its 30th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, a ceremony was held in the main hall of the new building on July 20, 2003, with 350 people in attendance, including executives, managers, long-service and outstanding employee award recipients, and representatives of the friendship committee of each business site.

In his address, Nagamori analyzed the factors behind the company’s growth to date, and while praising the employees, emphasized that this was a milestone in the process of growth. In response, employees also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the company’s founding and pledged to work together to achieve their goals without falling prey to the so-called “big company disease.”

After the ceremony, a family tour of the new company building was held, attended by nearly 700 employees and their families, who enjoyed a pleasant time in a friendly atmosphere.

In October of the same year, Nidec’s 30-year history, The Bold Challenge, was published.

Nidec Takes a Stake in Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a prestigious Nagano Prefecture company known for its music boxes. In the 1990s, the company expanded its business to include precision motors, optical components, and factory automation equipment, and had become a global company with sales of over 100 billion yen. However, since 2000, the company had suffered from deteriorating business performance and had been in the red for two consecutive fiscal years. Having long been interested in the company’s technology, in October 2003, Nidec underwrote a third-party allocation of new shares to acquire a 50% equity stake in the company. In addition, Nagamori implemented a thorough 3Q6S program, cut costs by improving attendance, reducing expenses, and strengthening purchasing power, and developed restructuring activities with the support of group companies. In fiscal 2006, when the company changed its name to Nidec Sankyo Corporation, it recorded its highest ever sales and returned to profitability.

Incidentally, Nagamori decided to fully support the company’s skating club when he took a stake in the company, and the group as a whole backed the club until it was discontinued in March 2022.

The Construction of the South Building of Nidec Tokyo Building Is Completed. The Motor Engineering Research Laboratory Is Established.

In July 2003, the 30th anniversary of Nidec’s founding, the company built a new building and the Central Technical Laboratory. Two years later, in 2005, Nidec built Nidec Tokyo Bldg. (South Bldg.) to consolidate the offices of its affiliates, and established the Motor Engineering Research Laboratory to conduct basic research in anticipation of the next 10 to 20 years.

As a result, Nidec had five R&D bases: the Nagano Technical Center (spindle motors for HDDs), the Shiga Technical Center (small brushless DC motors and medium-sized motors for automotive use), and the Tottori Technical Center (fans), in addition to the Central Technical Laboratory and the Motor Engineering Research Laboratory. The five R&D bases, each specializing in a particular field, were designed to increase the efficiency and speed of technological development.

The concept of the Motor Engineering Research Laboratory was a world-class motor research and development center that is worthy of being the world’s leading comprehensive motor manufacturer. Nagamori raised the R&D budget and allocated it to basic motor research, saying, “In the future, we will do it with the intention of producing a Nobel Prize winner from here.”

Aiming to Become the World's Leading Manufacturer of Comprehensive Drive Technologies with Sales of 1 Trillion Yen

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Nidec Is Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Business Operations Start in the New Head Office Building.

Celebrations Are Held to Mark the Completion of the New Building.

A Ceremony Is Held to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Company's Founding.

Nidec Takes a Stake in Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

The Construction of the South Building of Nidec Tokyo Building Is Completed. The Motor Engineering Research Laboratory Is Established.

Aiming to Become the World's
Leading Manufacturer of
Comprehensive Drive Technologies
with Sales of 1 Trillion Yen