Aiming for ‘Top Four’

Pentax Corporation, now so well known for its survey instruments, was founded in 1919 in Tokyo as Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co, mainly as a manufacturer of cameras. In 1938 the company changed its name to Asahi Optical Co Ltd and in 2002 the company acquired its current identity. Pentax Industrial Instruments Co Ltd was established in 2004 to develop and sell industrial equipment.

Since its foundation the company has opened several international subsidiaries and it now has four ‘global’ sites, in Japan, Europe, the US and Canada. Pentax Corporation includes four business divisions: Imaging Systems, Life Care, Optical Components and Industrial Instruments. The Industrial Instruments division combines two sections, one Information Technology, manufacturing mobile and laser-beam printers and scanners, and a Surveying Instruments section that manufactures total stations, lasers, auto-levels, theodolites and accessories.

Company Philosophy
The underlying idea behind all the divisions is that ‘we want to provide an optical solution for many different applications around the globe’. To actively promote this idea within the business Pentax Technologies Europe has created the slogan ‘Ahead of Vision’. Provision is based on management policy to pursue the development of original products that fully capitalise upon opto-mechatronics technology and thus create value. The company has the in-house expertise to respond to current market trends. It works on a cross-functional organisation model in order to benefit from the technology of each division, enabling response to market demand for efficient power management, miniaturisation of optomechatronical components, digital imaging and wireless data transfer. With the growing demand of the GNSS market (GPS, Glonass, Galileo) based on laser and satellite solutions, our Surveying Instruments division is working closely with other divisions to make full use of their expertise with a view to future provision of a solution matching this demand.

Geographical Expansion
Pentax Industrial Instruments Co Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, is responsible for the manufacture and marketing of Surveying Instruments in Asia and the Americas. It has various distributors worldwide and a European Headquarters in Belgium. Pentax Technologies Europe handles distribution and marketing of survey instruments for Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. Under its mid-term management plan the company plans this fiscal year to achieve a turnover of Yen157,500 million (US$1,4 billion). Today the Surveying Instruments division is focusing on increasing market share through geographical expansion. The company has put in place a new geographical organisation, hoping to better accommodate the specific needs of different markets and to react more quickly. The objective is to maximise results in each region. In Russia, for example, where the market is dynamic, sales have increased significantly thanks to the R-300X Series of Total Stations. The Surveying Instruments division plans to expand its portfolio of accessories for survey and construction. These will include prisms and prism poles and measuring instruments, but in particular unique accessories. These activities have already produced steady growth and signs of high demand from distributors all over Europe.

Market Development
The business environment is difficult and competition within Eur-ope fiercer than ever! We need to better focus our products on the needs and expectations of our customers, whether European, Asian or American. So our prime focus is to offer each of our customers, wherever in the world they do business, instruments that are more appealing, more flexible and intelligent. The Surveying Instruments division is aiming to place itself in the ‘top four’ market leaders in surveying. Growth is expected in regions such as Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Our objective of ambitious growth will be achieved by reinforcing the product range and making significant progress in technology. This drive will be supported by technological advances achieved through the synergies generated with Pentax Corporation. Product-wise we will focus on a variety of positioning systems, machine-control, single-point software, point-cloud software and aftermarket.