BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Entry into the Contract Clinical Testing BusinessPT. Innolab Sains Internasional (ISI), a contract clinicaltesting company established as a joint venture betweenToyota Tsusho; Health Sciences Research Institute,Inc. (HSRI); and the Kalbe Farma Group (Kalbe),a conglomerate in the healthcare field in Indonesiaand the largest pharmaceutical company in SoutheastAsia, opened as a clinical laboratory center in January2018. Anticipating expansion of the medical marketin Indonesia and with increasing demand for clinicallaboratory services, Toyota Tsusho established the newcompany with the goal of providing Japanese medicalservices that offered the world’s highest level of earlydisease diagnosis and prevention expertise. Leveraging itsbusiness base in Indonesia, ISI conducted sales activitiesand management support aimed at medical institutionsand corporate health examination centers, including thoserun by Japanese companies, and contributed to improvingthe country’s medical standards and the health of itspeople. ISI’s goal was to establish a clinical laboratorycenter that was No. 1 in Southeast Asia in terms of scaleand technological capabilities.4 Business Development in MalaysiaDealer Business DevelopmentToyota Tsusho has been developing logistics andmetals businesses in Malaysia ever since it establishedlocal subsidiary Toyoda (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (currently,Toyota Tsusho [Malaysia] Sdn. Bhd.) there in the 1970s.In the 2000s, the company turned its sights on the dealerbusiness, establishing UMW Toyotsu Motors with alocal partner in 2004. Then, in 2008, Tomen ElectronicsSingapore established Tomen Electronics Malaysia(currently, Toyota Tsusho Nexty Electronics MalaysiaSdn. Bhd.) in Malaysia, giving rise to Toyota Tsusho’sentrance to the electronics business there. ToyotaTsusho also became involved in a diverse range of otherbusinesses in Malaysia, such as resource management,automotive aftermarket services, and aircraft partsmanufacturing.Investment in a Silica Sand Mining and RefiningCompanyIn July 2013, Toyota Tsusho agreed to buy a 20%stake in the Malaysian silica sand mining and refiningcompany, Terengganu Silica Consortium Sdn. Bhd.Having already invested in a silica sand mining andrefining company in Australia, this move boostedToyota Tsusho’s annual silica sand trading capacity to550,000 metric tons. In addition to selling silica sand tocompanies in Malaysia Terengganu Silica Consortiumstarted exporting its product to Japan and China.Expanding Sales of Aftermarket Automotive Partsand Industrial MaterialsIn May 2014, in a move aimed at gaining a solidfoothold in the aftermarket automotive parts businessin Asia, Toyota Tsusho purchased all the outstandingstock in Borneo Technical Co. (M) Sdn. Bhd. (BTM)and Borneo Technical (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (BTT),major wholesalers of aftermarket automotive partsand industrial materials in Malaysia and Thailand,respectively. With an extensive rural and urban networkof sales bases in Malaysia and Thailand, the strengthsof BTM and BTT lay in direct sales to automobileparts stores, repair shops, retailers, and factories. Thetwo companies had a total of 19 sales bases and 15,000stores in Malaysia and 11 sales bases and 13,000 storesin Thailand, respectively, and both BTM and BTT wereindependent wholesalers of aftermarket automotive partsnot affiliated with any automaker. By acquiring this broadsales network in Malaysia and Thailand, Toyota Tsushoaimed to expand its sales of aftermarket automotive partsand industrial materials.Moving into the Aircraft Parts ManufacturingIndustryIn a joint venture with aircraft parts manufacturerUMW Toyotsu MotorsMalaysian silica sandHistory161