Construction equipment giant Komatsu, which celebrates its centenary this year, has announced that it will mark the occasion with commemorative activities, expressing appreciation to all stakeholders for their support over the years and by embarking on efforts for sustainable growth in the future.

The Japanese behemoth will kick off celebrations on May 13, the day of its founding, with continuing activities that will revolve around “creating value together through manufacturing and technology innovation to empower a sustainable future where people, businesses and our planet thrive together”.

A statement from Komatsu said the company considers its 100th anniversary as “a communication opportunity to enhance and disseminate its corporate brand”, as it looks to “continue to move forward with its stakeholders into the next 100 years”.

Komatsu has outlined four broad objectives in its centenary celebrations, the first of which is affirming and defining its corporate identity “by reflecting on its corporate growth built by forerunners and its relations with society”.

“Specifically, Komatsu has articulated its mission and vision as its purpose, together with its values. The corporate identity also incorporates pieces that have been created over the company’s history: founding principles, the Komatsu Way, Komatsu Worldwide Code of Business Conduct as well as strategies including the mid-term management plan. Furthermore, Komatsu has created the brand promise (tagline) of “Creating value together”. As our business and stakeholders diversify further, we will strive to deliver this promise through our global operations. A video describing the Komatsu brand is available on Komatsu’s 100th anniversary website,” said a statement from the company.

Another objective is the launch of the “One World One Komatsu” employee-driven social contribution project. Defining this, the statement said: “Komatsu defines CSR as activities to respond to social demands through core business, and works for sustainable growth with society by solving ESG issues. Komatsu is launching the “One World One Komatsu”, Komatsu’s first global platform which all Komatsu group employees around the world can join. This exclusive platform can consolidate the voluntary and simple efforts of each participant under the theme of environmental sustainability into group-wide sharing. It allows for easy logins from PCs and smart phones and transcends national and linguistic barriers. It thereby connects all Komatsu group employees worldwide, nurturing a sense of unity for the Komatsu group as they work for the common goal, and promoting activities designed for a sustainable earth.”

The third objective that the company has outlined is achieving safe, highly productive, smart and clean workplaces of the future. A special “Komatsu in 203X” 100th anniversary commemorative movie made for the occasion portrays future worksites as Komatsu wants them to look like in 10 to 20 years by focusing on five workplaces: mining, construction, forestry and agriculture, industrial machinery, and Komatsu’s production.

“By digitalising workplaces worldwide and connecting land features, man, machinery and materials on an open platform, Komatsu will solve on-site problems and optimise on-site operations, improve a variety of machine utilisation rates, and secure a carbon neutral environment,” said the statement.

The fourth objective is the renewal of “Komatsu-no-mori” in its home-base of Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The company opened “Komatsu-no-mori” in 2011 as part of its 90th anniversary commemorative project as a place to develop human resources on a global scale and as a place to nurture children together with the local communities. The facility is being revamped for the 100^th anniversary celebrations and will reopen on May 14 after completion of the project.

“As part of the renewal project aiming at sustainable contributions for local communities, Komatsu has taken new initiatives to open the Waku-Waku History Pavilion designed to trigger visitors to look back on Komatsu’s history and to display a unit of the PC4000 super-large hydraulic excavator next to the 930E, a dump truck of the world’s largest class, which has been there since 2011. Komatsu hopes that Komatsu-no-mori will continue to offer active opportunities to local communities by attracting many visitors, helping them become interested in manufacturing and nature, and learn about its technologies,” the company explained in its statement.

Komatsu said it has set up a 100th anniversary website https://komatsu-100th.com/en/ which will be kept updated with more information concerning the commemorative activities above and other events for the company’s special occasion.