3-layer portfolio
Layer-3 : Creation of new business models

Background and positioning of layer 3

With the expansion of the electronics area surrounding Murata, such as the progress of digitalization associated with the spread of 5G, the electrification of automobiles, and the new business opportunities in the out-car area that will result, the definition of customers is expected to change.
For example, in the area of communications, our business has been mainly supplying components and modules to smartphone manufacturers, but with the expansion of applications utilizing communications, such as local 5G and telemedicine, the value demanded by our customers is shifting to software and solutions. For such customers, we are required to propose solutions that include not only the sale of electronic components but also the utilization method of communications. In order to continue to provide value to our customers in an ever-changing society, Murata must expand the value it can offer.
Against this backdrop, Murata, as layer 3, will build a new business model by combining with layers 1 and 2 and utilizing its accumulated knowledge of communications and other areas, as well as by identifying a wide range of possibilities without being bound by the conventional framework of markets, commercial products, or business forms.
Of course, we will continue to provide value through technological innovation in layers 1 and 2 of Murata’s existing base business. Layer 3 is positioned as an area of challenge for Murata’s long-term development. In addition, we will consider areas that are difficult to tackle by extending Murata’s existing capabilities and framework, including co-creation with external parties.

Building Murata's future core competencies

Steps toward the creation of new business models

Under Medium-term Direction 2024, we will identify areas where Murata can leverage its strengths while building on quick successes and small successes as the first step toward making third layer businesses a pillar of our portfolio in 2030 and beyond. Furthermore, in order to create new businesses for the third layer, we will implement a concrete strategy that includes human resources and organizational structure to address issues that cannot be addressed within the existing internal framework.

Implement mechanisms for idea generation

As mechanisms for promoting innovation for the development of third-layer businesses, we are creating “technology displays” to showcase our technology to customers and partners and are actively pursuing “knowledge collaboration” with external parties. By turning the ideas generated through these various initiatives into actual commercial ventures, we will develop businesses for the third layer.

KUMIHIMO Tech Camp with Murata

A project administered jointly with our partner companies. Involves providing Murata’s products to start-ups, solicit ideas for new products and services, and providing support for everything from prototype production to mass production and sales, in order to bring these ideas to commercialization.

Aims
  • Increase awareness of Murata’s highly reliable, high-precision sensor devices and other products
  • Work together with start-ups to provide support for the market launches of new products and services

Murata Mirai Mobility

An experience-based facility for introducing Murata’s solutions and technologies for the in-vehicle system market

Find out more about “MURATA Mirai MOBILITY”Open in New Window here.

Murata Interactive Communication Space

A facility that promotes knowledge collaboration. Visitors can experience Murata technologies and products that could lead to the technologies and applications of the future.

Aims
  • Reinforce external collaborations, such as technology exchanges
  • Reinforce collaborations with research and development sites
  • Create industry-leading innovative products and technologies

Explore new technologies and business areas to develop through VC (venture capital) investment

VC investment in Japan and overseas. Involves collecting information about start-ups, markets, and technologies around the world.

Aims
  • New commercialization of Murata technologies
  • Seize opportunities for co-creation
  • Take on the challenge of developing business fields

Showcasing initiatives at our plants

Factory showcasing is designed to generate business opportunities by bringing our wares to our plants and allowing customers to come in and view them, handle them, and try them out.
As one of our third-layer businesses, we aim to provide solutions for social issues. There are a myriad of social issues, but ones such as human (employee) safety and health, decarbonization, and disaster prevention are also faced by the Group’s business and production sites. Our factories can thus serve as excellent models where the effectiveness of our products in addressing issues has been verified and data has been accumulated, enabling us to demonstrate the convenience and value of our solutions to customers.
We therefore intend to develop our third-layer businesses by proactively turning our plants into showcases and also presenting the data required for deploying our solutions in society.

Case study 1 Clean energy park at Kanazu Murata Manufacturing

Here, we have installed a renewable energy system that utilizes our proprietary control technology (efinnos). It combines large solar panels and storage battery units with our proprietary energy management system that allows for real-time optimization of energy use through integrated management of information such as production plans, electricity consumption, weather conditions, and power generation projections.
The Hokuriku region, where Kanazu Murata Manufacturing (Fukui Prefecture) is located, is an area of low solar radiation and heavy snowfall. We utilize knowledge and data obtained under these harsh conditions to improve our products and operations. We are also able to offer customers optimal effectiveness simulations using this empirical data.

For more information on our integrated renewable energy control solution (efinnos), please see here. Open in New Window

Case study 2 Smart manufacturing support tool for manufacturing sites (JIGlet)

JIGlet is a tool to support frontline visualization and operational improvement. It enables even personnel on the manufacturing frontline who lack IT knowledge to easily record and accumulate data on the status of equipment and personnel, visualize process variation and waste with graphs, and utilize the gained insights in various ways to make improvements and solve problems. The device is simple to deploy, as it can be retrofitted to existing equipment, eliminating the need for large-scale equipment installations and investment.
By showcasing our own factories as settings where these products are installed, we first verify their effectiveness internally, and then aim to provide optimal solutions to the various issues faced by our customers.

For more information on JIGlet, please see here.Open in New Window

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