2024 Industry New Year’s Event: A forward look at Japan’s machine tool industry

News Digest Publishing (ND), the organization behind SEISANZAI Japan, hosted the “2024 FA Industry New Year’s Reception” at the Nagoya Congress Center on January 11. The event was attended by 735 industry professionals, mainly manufacturers and distributors of machine tools and equipment. 

Hachiro Higuchi, President of ND, opened the event with an address to the audience. He expressed his heartfelt condolences to the victims of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on January 1 and thanked the audience for the success of last year’s MECHATRONICS TECHNOLOGY JAPAN in October. 

During the event, Shu Yasumi, Editor-in-Chief of SEISANZAI Japan, presented an “Industry Outlook” on the Japanese machine tool industry for 2024. Yasumi forecast a 12.2% year-on-year decline in orders to 1.3 trillion yen this year. He remarked, “While the current order situation is sluggish, indications suggest a bottoming out with a subsequent rise expected this spring and noticeable recovery around the beginning of fall.” Dr. Yoshiharu Inaba, Chairman of the Japan Machine Tool Builders’ Association (JMTBA), also shared the JMTBA’s forecast of 1.5 trillion yen, a 1.4% increase from the previous year. He outlined the forecasted ratio of domestic and foreign demand, stating, “Domestic demand is expected to be 530 billion yen, with foreign demand at 970 billion yen.” 

A special moment of the event was the presentation of a bronze statue to Takao Katayama, CEO of UNION TOOL, in recognition of receiving the ND Marketing Award. In addition, three prominent executives – Dr. Masahiko Mori, President of DMG Mori; Akihiro Teramachi, Chairman and CEO of THK; and Atsushi Ieshiro, President of Okuma – shared insights on the outlook for the year and their business strategies. 

Detailed coverage of the 2024 market forecasts, the ND Marketing Award for this year, and exclusive interviews with top executives will be featured in a separate article at a later date.