Business Activities and Strategies

Since the Company’s founding in April 1968, the JCU Group has supported the growth of the automotive, electronics, and other industries primarily through the provision of various surface treatment technologies developed from decorative and rust-proof plating techniques. With respect to the Group’s direction over the medium to long term, we define our vision for 2035 as becoming a global organization that continuously grows with society by fully utilizing distinctive strengths and making contributions to society and protecting the environment. We will respond to the ever-changing social environment while continuously enhancing technological and service structures with the aim of enhancing corporate value through the pursuit of social and economic value.

Chemicals Business Overview and Strategy

In the chemicals business, we are engaged in the development, manufacture, and sales of surface treatment chemicals and the sale of related materials in both domestic and international markets. Our surface treatment chemicals are grouped into the decorative and functional, and electronics categories. We proactively invest profits from chemicals for automotive parts and PCBs—our foundational areas—in two growth sectors within the electronics domain: the semiconductor package substrate sector—our priority area—and the advanced semiconductor packages sector, which we position as a nextgeneration domain, with the aim of realizing corporate growth.

At present, we develop business at 12 bases in 10 countries, and the chemicals business has grown to represent over 80% of overseas sales. We will continue striving to gain the trust of customers in Japan and overseas by maintaining a globally connected, swift, and extensive support system, making proactive investments, and continuously developing highquality products.

Electronics Field

In the electronics field, we focus on the development, manufacture, and sales of surface treatment chemicals for high-density PCBs and semiconductor package substrates used in smartphones, PCs, tablets, servers, and other high-performance electronic devices. In recent years, in addition to the CU-BRITE series of acid copper plating processes for via filling—our flagship product—we launched new brand TIPHARES® for semiconductor areas with more demanding requirements.

Going forward, we will continue to work on product development that meets increasingly sophisticated performance requirements, as we aim to expand our product lineup and quickly establish the TIPHARES® series in the market.

Decorative and Functional Fields

In the decorative and functional fields, we are engaged in the development, manufacture, and sales of surface treatment chemicals used on automotive parts and water faucet parts. To address the increasingly stringent climate change countermeasures and environmental regulations demanded in our target fields in recent years, we launched the new brand JEOLUMIS® aimed at reducing environmental impacts.

This new brand targets products that contribute to reducing or eliminating substances harmful to the natural environment and human health, conserving resources, and reducing CO₂ emissions.

Going forward, we will continue to develop products with reduced environmental impact, expand our product lineup, and aim to quickly establish the JEOLUMIS® series in the market.

Equipment Business Overview and Strategy

In our equipment business both in Japan and overseas, we are engaged in everything from design to manufacturing and sales. Our fully automated and precisely developed surface treatment equipment is used in a variety of sectors, including the automotive and electronics-related industries.

Based on the “integrated sales of systems and chemicals” concept that has been our philosophy since the Company’s founding, our equipment division also takes part in the research and development of chemicals. This enables us to verify technical issues that cannot be resolved with chemicals alone from the perspective of equipment mechanisms, and promote the development and sales of differentiated equipment that maximizes the performance of chemicals.

In addition to plating equipment, we also sell PCB etching and cleaning equipment that uses plasma technologies, which are highly compatible with chemicals, as well as other equipment that supports high-density manufacturing technologies.

JCU VISION 2035 —1^st stage— Investments in Growing Markets