He started his career at HORIBA Ltd. in 1998 by joining the Research and Development (R&D) department. After earning a doctoral degree and holding several different positions within the HORIBA Group worldwide, he became Global Segment Leader for Automotive Test Systems in 2011. In addition, Dr. Nakamura was appointed Chief Manager of HORIBA’s Automotive Segment Strategy Office in 2013. He was involved in the development of important products, published more than 30 technical papers and holds patents for at least 15 applications.
Mr. Nakamura, as the new President of HORIBA Europe, you are in charge of the Automotive Test Systems (ATS) segment. Which main topics have you been focusing on since you took over the position from Hiroshi Kawamura?
Since I became President, I have been pursuing our mid-/long-term management plan, and I recently announced the four new corporate slogans of HORIBA: Create Innovation, Empowering Team & Individuals, One Europe & Global Leadership and HORIBA Stream & Efficiency. These slogans are valid for all HORIBARIANs and precisely reflect the topics I am focusing on.
HORIBA wants to create an application-oriented approach and expand the strength of its emission measurement systems as well as its P&E (Process and Environment) products. For this reason, it is important for us to empower teams and individuals in equal measure at all sites. HORIBA welcomes constructive proposals from all of its employees, since their valuable everyday experiences and improvements help to keep the company healthy. We need to understand that innovation is not just limited to technical matters, but for example also affects our production methods, our organization and our financial and controlling system.
In further steps, HORIBA needs to synchronize the European solutions for a global market and improve the profitability for continuous investment and future growth.
RDE and the upcoming legal requirements are being focused on at present. What are your plans for ensuring that the company stays on top and up-to-date in this competitive market?
I started my career at HORIBA in the emission analysis section of the R&D department and was part of a team which developed the first generation of OBS. Emissions and emission analysis have gained in importance since then. Nowadays, RDE is one of the biggest challenges for all automotive-related industries, and that applies for HORIBA too. New standards for testing imply growing demands on tools. At HORIBA, we intend to provide proper technical solutions, not only in order to meet the upcoming legal requirements, but also to support the R&D activities of our customers. In cooperation with the clients, HORIBA’s teams of experts constantly develop new and valid technologies for the up-to-date test laboratories.
What is your message to HORIBA customers?
Open discussion is the basis of the good relationship between HORIBA and its customers. It makes us aware of the expectations and enables us to meet them by constantly exploring the best technical solutions and updating our existing ones. I feel honored to say that we receive strong support from our customers, and I am looking forward to going on working in this collaborative way. In view of the upcoming changes in legislation and the resulting demands on measurements and testing tools, it is important to have strong partners and jointly confront the challenges.
Finally: What is your vision for the future of HORIBA Europe?
HORIBA Europe is responsible for the global business of the Automotive Test System (ATS) segment. For its European customers, HORIBA provides well-established testing solutions, systems, tools and technologies. Our vision is to become a trusted leader delivering appropriate, innovative solutions to the mobility sector all over the world. In particular the ongoing trends considering RDE and WLTP have lots of potential, and I am confident that, in constant dialogue with our valued customers, we will be able to achieve our aim of having the innovative strength to face the future together.
