A mission statement is something that you hear a lot if you belong to a company.
HACARUS has its mission statement, of course.
One might say that the mission statement must never be changed forever once it’s made.
But our mission statement has been changed 3 times so far in the past 9 years.
The first one is this. The mission when the company was founded.
“Extending human longevity to 120 years”
Because HACARUS started as a company creating an AI-based diet app (and related hardware), “health” was our theme at that time.
This mission was easy to understand and some people still say “Your mission sounds so catchy.” I’m truly thankful for that.
Then the second one. What s surprise…
No mission.
This decision was made at a time when HACARUS was expanding from health and medical fields to other fields such as manufacturing and was gaining some recognition in the respective industries.
At that time, we did not clearly state “We are a company that does XXX” but only set forth the guiding principles and values expected of HACARUS members.
The mission “Extending human longevity to 120 years” is strongly associated with the health and medical fields, so we decided to try a company without a mission for a while.
One of the options for a startup in its early stages of establishment, when a change in business direction is inevitable, is to not have a mission until its purpose and existence become clear.
Netflix is a company famous for putting its culture (or code of conduct) instead of its mission statement.
And the third one.
Bringing the next generation of instruments to all industries.
This is the mission that HACARUS is currently pursuing.
It’s like returning to our roots and this is the origin of our company name.
“Hakaru” is a Japanese word meaning “measure” and this is where the name HACARUS comes from. The English word “instrument” might not be a direct translation but it perfectly represents what we are trying to provide.
In Kyoto, where HACARUS is headquartered, there are other companies that devote their lives to this kind of instrument.
Horiba is famous for measuring instruments for exhaust gas, water quality, and radiation. Shimadzu is engaged in measuring and analyzing equipment that is indispensable in the life science field. Omron offers everything from blood pressure monitors to various sensors used in factories. Ishida perfectly measures the weight of a bag of potato chips and packs them in a bag.
Here in Kyoto, there are many predecessors of such companies.
All of these companies have been in business for nearly 100 years, or more than 100 years, and continue to operate to this day.
In the year 2022, the “instruments” that we are engaged in are not just about measuring things, but also about transforming the data obtained from the measurement into high value-added things using the latest technologies such as AI.
We often say this within the company. “Let’s assume a such 100-years-old company in Kyoto were founded today. What would they do with the technology available today?”
As a Kyoto-based company, HACARUS will continue to do its best as a professional.
