A N N U A L R E P O R T 1 9 9 9

?
Japan’s printing industry has already
entered a period characterized by highly
mature markets. What will Toppan—one
of Japan’s leading printing companies—do
to ensure continued growth in its core
business of printing?
Since Toppan’s establishment, superior
printing technology has been the foundation
of the Company’s operations. Today,
we are making full use of the know-how
acquired over many years of success in the
printing industry throughout our wideranging
fields of business, which extend to
securities and cards, commercial printing,
publications printing, packaging, industrial
materials, electronics, business forms, and multimedia.
Demand for printing, Toppan’s core business, is currently
weakening due to the lengthening economic slump in
Japan and to the maturity of the market. Toppan has a large
share of the domestic market, and to survive the intense price
competition that is currently affecting the printing industry the
Company is emphasizing a customer-first orientation and
advanced information capabilities.
To meet diverse customer needs, we will focus on the
fundamentals of the printing business—providing high-quality
printed materials in a short turnaround time and at a reasonable
cost. In this light, we will emphasize our customer-first policy in
all departments throughout the Company, including marketing,
manufacturing, administration,
technology, and research. This
policy is linked to the strategy
of further heightening our
customer orientation in the
printing business around a core
of advanced information capabilities.
In commercial printing,
we responded to growing
demand for personalized marketing with the establishment
of a new line for the production of catalogs at our
Sakado plant in Saitama Prefecture. Toppan is using this
facility in conjunction with the Integrated Database
Marketing System that it has developed in-house to meet
diversifying customer needs. In addition, we opened the
Digital Prepress Center in Tokyo as a base for responding to
the increasing use of digitization in publication printing
markets, where demand for shorter delivery times and
lower costs continues to strengthen.
Toppan’s commitment to the environment
extends throughout the Company. In our packaging
operations, we have developed a lineup of environmentally
friendly products, centered on food packaging
applications. This lineup includes recyclable
products and products that do not release harmful gases
when incinerated. In industrial materials, meanwhile, we
have developed non-polyvinyl-chloride (non-PVC) interior
materials and formalin-free decorative boards. In the area of
sophisticated, high-value-added printing-related products, we
!
are developing advanced IC cards and comprehensive systems
to meet rapidly expanding security needs in the securities and
cards field.
Overseas, we relocated our publications printing
operations from a now closed Singapore subsidiary to Hong
Kong and Shenzhen, China. In the future, we will further
strengthen these plants in line with their roles as important
production bases in Asia.
Progress in Printing
Personalized catalog production
plant opened
During the past fiscal year,
Toppan opened a line for the
production of personalized catalogs.
The new line will be used
in tandem with our database marketing
operations, which are already showing favorable
results. Built at a cost of ¥14.0 billion on
the site of our Sakado plant in Saitama
Prefecture, the new facility features high-speed
digital networks and the latest laborsaving and factory automation
systems. There is strong demand in the market for personalized
marketing services, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
In order to bolster our ability to meet that demand, we built this
new line, which is Japan’s first full-fledged selective system line for
the printing, binding, and enclosure of catalogs that are personalized
in accordance with the preferences of individual customers.
Mass production of the world’s first hybrid IC cards
In response to demand for IC cards that combine the advantages
of contact and non-contact cards, Toppan has built facilities
for the full-scale mass production of hybrid IC cards that
are about the size of a credit card and can be embossed. These
new production facilities have enhanced Toppan’s ability to
meet demand in such areas as electronic payment systems and
multipurpose IC cards.
Toppan GL Film in North America
and Europe
Toppan has signed an exclusive sales
contract for GL Film, a transparent
high barrier film, with Huntsman
Packaging Corporation, of the United
States. The agreement, which covers
Canada, the United States, and Mexico, will lead to expanded
sales of this film for use in applications that require excellent
barrier properties, such as confectioneries, processed foods,
toiletries, medicines, and precision electronic components.
Meanwhile, to expand sales in Europe, we have
entered into a tie-up with a company based in Milan.
7