Since our founding in 1959, SMC has grown as a comprehensive manufacturer of automatic control equipment, including pneumatic equipment, with the goal of “meeting all of our customer requests”. At this time, SMC has more than 500 offices in more than 80 countries around the world with 20,000 employees including 6,600 sales staff and 1,600 engineers with abundant know-how and 700,000 product variations. We have systems in place to provide the best products and services to our customers who work with automation in all industrial fields in every corner of the world. With this vast network, SMC is able to provide top service and products directly to our customers, with unmatched expertise anywhere they are located. In recent years, the interest in environmental issues has been increasing worldwide. We, SMC, have been able to refine our technical prowess with the input of our customers to reduce the size and weight of our products, saving valuable resources and energy in ours and our customers’ manufacturing processes. Therefore, we are confident that we can provide positive contributions in solving our customers’ issues regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions, energy and resource savings. For 30 years, I have been in charge of SMC USA’s top management. Utilizing my experience in promoting SMC’s sales activities on a global basis, I would like to make SMC evolve into a truly global company, where diverse human resources can play an active role, regardless of location, nationality or gender. It is my sincere hope that, through such efforts, SMC will continue to be a company that is trusted and needed by all of our stakeholders, including our customers, business partners, shareholders, investors, employees and their families, and our local communities.