Anvis parent company completes change of name to Sumitomo Riko

Anvis parent company completes change of name to Sumitomo Riko

The third birth

Steinau, 1 October 2014. The Tokai Rubber Industries change of name

to Sumitomo Riko comes into force today. "The Sumitomo name is

synonymous worldwide with innovation and quality," said Mitsuru

Watanabe, Vice President of Sumitomo Riko. Tetsu Matsui, Senior

Managing Executive Officer Director, regards the change of name as

the "third birth of the company" since it was established in 1929: "The

takeover of Anvis and DyTech last year marks the start of a new era."

Sumitomo Riko is the global market leader in vibration control

components and anti-vibration systems and is keen to further

consolidate this position. The group aims to increase its turnover from

over €3.3 billion today to in excess of €7 billion by 2020. With 13

locations around the world and as a fully owned subsidiary of the

company, the Anvis Group is contributing to this growth and plans to

double current turnover to over €600 million. "As part of our global

company development strategy, we are making huge investments in

increasing capacities and modernising existing production sites," said

Olaf Hahn, CEO of the Anvis Group.

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1929 marked the birth of Sumitomo Riko. At the time, the company was

known as Kamata Belt and initially specialised in the production of

conveyor belts. In 1937, the name was changed to Tokai Rubber

Industries. "This was the second birth of our company," said Tetsu

Matsui. "We developed rubber products for industrial use as well as

high pressure hoses."

Using its decades of experience in the processing and mixing of rubber,

the company entered the automotive market with its anti-vibration

systems in 1954. In the years that followed, it gradually built up its

expertise in the decoupling of metal parts to reduce noise and vibration.

The company also expanded into "ICT", "infrastructure", "living

environment", "medicine/care and health" as well as "environment and

energy".

"By taking over the Anvis Group and the Italian company DyTech fluid

technologies in 2013, we took a decisive strategic step which essentially

resulted in the third birth of the company," said Matsui. The change of

name to Sumitomo Riko now completes this process. "The combination

of words is made up of the globally known and trusted brand of the

principal shareholder "Sumitomo" Electric Industries Ltd. and the

Japanese word for physics, chemistry and technology "Riko", which

reflects the core areas of the service portfolio."

Olaf Hahn too regards the name change as "the green light for

expansion". For example, a new head office is currently being built in

Steinau. "We are also increasing our global workforce and production

capacities." The basis for this is the "Vision 2020" agreed on a groupwide

basis. The aim of this is to further consolidate the company''s

position as the world market leader for anti-vibration systems and

continuously optimise its production processes.

About the Anvis Group

Whether engine, gearbox and chassis mounts, or exhaust suspensions

and vibration dampers, Anvis components are installed in all parts of

automobiles. Its main focus is the development of anti-vibration

systems, i.e. systems to decouple vibrating parts in vehicles. The group

achieves a turnover of over €300 million at its 13 sites around the

world. Its customers mainly include leading automobile manufacturers

such as the VW Group, BMW, Mercedes, Renault-Nissan or General

Motors. The company also has expertise in other industries such as the

rail and aviation industry. In 2013, the Anvis Group was taken over in

full by Sumitomo Riko Company Limited (formerly Tokai Rubber

Industries). Tokai is the global market leader in the automotive

vibration technology sector.