The A&D Group is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2017 by adopting a new theme for its future: Discover Precision.

　A&D recently launched a new and exciting corporate tagline, "Discover Precision," which represents the philosophy and belief behind our core business and commitment to innovate. (Refer to the press release. ) "Discover Precision" embodies our desire to create and build the world's most exacting measurement instruments. It also reflects the story of our history and path forward, our passion to innovate, and an overwhelming desire to help our customers realize accurate results every time they use an A&D product.

　40 years ago, we sailed into uncertain seas with the intent to discover new worlds (markets) in spite of continuously shifting winds and waves which were almost certain to knock us off course. What we lacked in experience, however, we more than made up for with energy and courage, focusing on our passion for developing the world's foremost electronic circuitry together with advanced analog to digital conversion technology. At the time, we had no clear map for our voyage, except a strong desire to continuously test our hypotheses, work with our customers to realize breakthrough solutions, and find a way to strengthen our A&D family of employees and partners.

　I myself joined the company three years after meeting with our late founder, Mr. Furukawa, who formed A&D with little promise for success. During our first meeting, Furukawa-san explained to me his vision of expanding A&D's business globally, and I immediately sensed that I could share his dream and help to grow the company into a global organization. Looking back, I realize that I jumped into his boat without even considering how difficult it could be. Immediately after joining the company, I realized that we had virtually no products that could be released outside of Japan.

　Because (or in spite) of this dilemma, I ended up staying at the factory working in production management for one year, which in hindsight served as a great opportunity to understand how engineers worked, lived and solved challenges on a daily basis. After my stint in the factory, I began visiting many countries and had the opportunity to exchange views with a large number of potential partners, customers and competitors across the world. We came to understand that there were many formidable players working equally hard to become dominant in the measurement industry. Despite these challenges, we held onto our dream of becoming a global entity that could do business both in Japan and overseas markets.

　Throughout this challenging period, we reminded ourselves that our most important assets were our customers and the continuous contact we had with the people and organizations we were serving. "Customer first" became more than a mission statement…it was our way of approaching a highly competitive marketplace with a firm anchor to guide us. In the truest sense, our dreams became our reality by working closely with the people and organizations who trusted us to serve them.

　Perhaps by sheer luck, in our early years the world of weighing (measurement of mass and force) was going through a period of tremendous change, quickly moving from mechanical to electronic instrumentation through the adoption of micro-electronics and computer chips. In the medical field, the subsequent shift to electronic blood pressure measurement became possible thanks to the development of these micro computer chips, which spurred even greater innovation. More recently, the use of digital signal processing technology has moved this field even further along through simulation technology.

　As I re-visit our voyage over the years, I feel that our metamorphosis was only made possible thanks to an expanding group of colleagues who had the foresight to believe that we could discover a new world of measurement with the most accurate and reliable technology (precision). My greatest memories, however, are of the wonderful partners, customers, sub-contractors, shareholders, business teams and associates both in Japan and throughout the world. I am also grateful for the overwhelming support and encouragement we constantly received from our families and friends.

　Having participated in 40 years of development, growth, heartache and victory since A&D was founded in 1977, I can honestly say that I have no idea what the next 40 years will bring--or what kind of future awaits us--but I am certain that A&D will continue to seek out and realize our continued dream of delivering "Honmono" with the pioneering spirit of "Discover Precision."

　I hope you will join and continue to support us on this exciting journey.