1986 to present

The next target of Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd., which was enjoying a solid share of the domestic market of medium- and small-sized air compressors, was to develop large-sized models and enhance oilfree air compressors, the company's area of specialty. However, since single screw air compressors - ANEST IWATA's proprietary line of products - had a complex 3D structure, manufacturing them cost a lot of money and stabilizing their quality was hard to do. It was therefore difficult to make these air compressors oil-free, and the company could not put them at the core of its strategy. At the time, several compression methods, such as screw compression and turbo compression, were used for mediumand large-sized air compressors, with a variety of products already available on the market. Judging that developing new products would be very risky in terms of time and cost, ANEST IWATA decided to seek a partner with an extensive lineup of high-quality, high-performance models. A candidate was soon found - Atlas Copco, a Sweden-based international air compressor manufacturer. In January 1989, Atlas Copco Iwata K.K. was jointly established. Atlas Copco supplied air compressor bodies to ANEST IWATA, which in turn manufactured twin screw compressors and tooth oilfree air compressors and sold these products through its sales network.

In 1999, the knockdown production system of this joint company reached its limit in terms of price competitiveness and supply capacity. After liquidating the company, ANEST IWATA switched to OEM supply from Atlas Copco. Given the severe competition in the medium-sized air compressor market, however, they realized that it was difficult to continue with this supply system and decided to develop and produce products on their own. In partnership with the Fair Friend Group, one of the major corporate groups in Taiwan with which ANEST IWATA had worked closely through its coating equipment business, the company established a joint corporation - ANEST IWATA FEELER Corporation - in 2009 in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. At this joint corporation, they worked to develop ANEST IWATA's unique twin-screw and claw air compressor bodies and started to machine and assemble air compressor units using these components. In 2012, ANEST IWATA released the Exact Air series of oil-lubricated medium-sized air compressors, as well as the Absolute Air series of oil-free medium-sized air compressors certified as Class 0 by TÜV, an international certification organization in Germany. These expanded the company's lineup of air compressors, ranging from 60-watt air pumps to 3.7-kilowatt medium-sized compressors. Not many manufacturers produce so wide a range of both oil-lubricated and oil-free models on their own. In the meantime, the sales of the P series had continued to grow steadily as ANEST IWATA's main reciprocating compressors since their release in 1980. The oil-free models, however, required the maintenance of the piston ring and peripheral parts after every 2,000 to 3,000 hours of operation, as did the products from competitors, which was an obstacle to the spread of oil-free air compressors.

Low-cost, highperformance small reciprocating air compressors designed to overcome this weakness were brought to market in 1995 as the COMG series (oil-free models were released in 1996). For the COMG series, engineers reviewed all the parts, including even the tiniest ones, one by one in order to cut costs and enhance functionality. As a result of sharing parts with overseas manufacturers and actively promoting the global procurement of parts, the company succeeded in realizing reciprocating compressors with higher performance than that of the former models at low prices. For oil-free air compressors, which had been an issue, thermosetting resin was used for pistons to ensure a durability of 10,000 hours. Improvement was also made in power, which oil-free air compressors had lacked, making them equivalent to oillubricated models. Not only were the oil-free air compressors of the COMG series well received in the market, but they were close to perfection as products. No changes, except minor ones, have been made to these compressors to date. In 2000, ANEST IWATA's reciprocating compressors entered a new stage. The company founded ANEST IWATA Motherson Private Ltd. jointly with a new partner, the Motherson Group, which is a leading corporate group in India, putting into operation a base factory for the global supply of oil-lubricated reciprocating compressors. At the same time, Air Factory Energy Ltd. was established to market air compressors and provide related services in India. This completed the mother factory system whereby oil-lubricated reciprocating compressor bodies manufactured in India and oil-free reciprocating compressor bodies manufactured at Fukushima Factory were supplied worldwide.

At the core of the air compressor strategy of Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd. was the development of oil-free scroll compressors. A scroll compressor has two helical wraps meshed together to compress air. Extremely silent, this type of compressor was said to be ideal as a compact air compressor model. Due to technical hurdles that were very difficult to clear, however, even the world's leading compressor manufacturers had given up attempts to develop it. ANEST IWATA started the development of scroll compressors around 1985, overcoming difficult challenges one by one including the identification of optimal heat-resistant material, the development of chip seal material and the precise design of an air-cooled housing. In March 1991, the company brought to market the world's first oil-free scroll compressors, SLP-22 (2.2 kW) and SLP-37 (3.7 kW), which were followed by 5.5- to 15-kw models equipped with multiple 2.2- and 3.7-kW compressor bodies. The SLP series compressors were not just silent but achieved a durability of 10,000 hours, a stunning feature for oil-free compressors at that time, gaining significant market acclaim. The SLP-07 and SLP-15 were launched in 2000 that had a compact compressor body mounted on them. In 2004, ANEST IWATA released the Think Air series of 22- to 30-kW models equipped with more compressor bodies and featuring the multi-stage control function to enable optimal operation based on air consumption. Combined with the Smart Air series with a single 0.75- to 3.7-kW compressor body, these models expanded the company's lineup of oil-free scroll compressors. In addition, the F series was developed in 2014, which was equipped with a new compressor body using heat-resistant film coating. The company received the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy Director’s Award in the FY2016 Energy - Efficient Machinery Award program. Both the CFBS series, the world's first oil-free booster compressor developed by ANEST IWATA in 2004, and the succeeding EFBS series, a model directly connected to the motor, earned high commendation as excellent energy-saving devices because they lowered the air line pressure in the factory and enabled pressure to be raised partially. They received the JMF's President Award in the FY2009 Energy-Efficient Machinery Award program, and the use of these compressors is spreading to factories abroad while they gain higher acclaim as customers install them newly or repeatedly.

In 1990, Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd. was a dominant player in the domestic markets, commanding 30% of the compressor market and 70% of the spray gun market. The ANEST IWATA brand was regarded with a degree of esteem. With the domestic markets almost fully exploited, however, the company needed to expand its sales abroad, especially in Europe and the U.S., to achieve further business growth. Based on the bitter experience that it had when it made a foray into the European markets in 1968, the company conducted careful market researches and formulated an in-depth strategy. The first step in launching its re-entry into the European markets was the establishment of Iwata Italia in Turin in 1989. It was followed by Iwata Europe, which was founded in November 1991 to supervise marketing activities across Europe, a move in preparation for the creation of the EU scheduled for 1993. ANEST IWATA went on to establish Iwata France in the suburbs of Lyon, France, in 1992 and Iwata U.K. in Winborne, U.K., in 1993, thus completing its sales network for Western Europe with Iwata Europe being the headquarters. Later, these companies changed their names to those of the ANEST IWATA group. Additional sales companies were created in Sweden in 2000, Spain in 2007, Russia and Germany in 2010, South Africa in 2012 and Poland and the United Arab Emirates in 2014. In 2016, ANEST IWATA Europe merged with Air Gunsa, a coating equipment manufacturer, to establish the ANEST IWATA Strategic Center, which would serve as a strategic marketing center for the coating equipment business with development, production and logistic functions to cover the global market from the European markets. ANEST IWATA had provided air compressor bodies in Europe for many years in partnership with Atlas Copco. In order to market compressors under its own brand, the company established ANEST IWATA Air Tech in 2012 in Turin and then acquired Babatz, a German compressor manufacturer, thus creating a sales company with a production function.

A foray into the air compressor business in North America took place almost at the same time. The U.S. compressor market at the time was dominated by global giants such as Ingersoll Rand and Quincy, but the mainstream products were cast oil-lubricated air compressors. At first, ANEST IWATA mainly focused on the supply of compressor bodies but, in 1988, the company founded Powerex Iwata Air Technology jointly with Scott & Fetzer to begin local production. This joint company marketed its products exclusively in the oil-free air compressor markets such as healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, yielding better results than expected. Later, with the aim of developing general-purpose compressor and vacuum pump equipment markets in North America, ANEST IWATA Air Engineering was established in 2011. In 2014, ANEST IWATA AirZap was created to expand business in South America. In order to promote its coating equipment business in North America, the company founded ANEST IWATA USA in 1994 and ANEST IWATA-MEDEA in 1998, followed by ANEST IWATA BRAZIL and ANEST IWATA MEXICO that were established in 2010 and 2016, respectively. ANEST IWATA-MEDEA is a core company in the air brush business that is in charge of global expansion. As HARDER & STEENBECK, a German air brush manufacturer, joined the group in 2017, ANEST IWATA decided to expand and bolster its manufacturing, sales and service activities under the internationally recognized IWATA brand and the HARDER & STEENBECK brand that was mainly popular in Europe.

It was in the mid-1980s that Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd. began to set up production bases abroad on a full scale. The value of the yen, which was traded at 152 yen to the dollar in August 1986, sharply rose to a record high of 134 yen to the dollar in November 1987, causing production costs to surge and preventing the company to generate earnings growth from increased revenue. In this situation, ANEST IWATA decided to start production in Taiwan partly because of the need to address high production costs in Japan and partly because the Taiwanese market seemed promising. In August 1987, Taiwan Iwata Coating Equipment Ltd. (now ANEST IWATA Taiwan Corporation) was founded as a production base for coating equipment jointly with a local business, the Fair Friend Group, each contributing half of the capital. In the 1990s, waves of industrialization hit mainland China. Convinced that China would become a lucrative market, ANEST IWATA sought a foothold for doing business there. In October 1992, the company established Shanghai Iwata Coating Equipment Ltd. (now Shanghai ANEST IWATA Coating Machinery Corporation) jointly with Shanghai Pneumatic Systems Co., Ltd. In line with the management reform and company name change in 1996, ANEST IWATA changed its coating equipment sales system in Asia from the conventional onedealer- in-one-country approach, setting up its own bases and expanding its sales networks. In 2006, ANEST IWATA (DONGGUAN) Corporation was established in China to produce coating systems and booths. The sales function of the coating equipment business in China was transferred to ANEST IWATA (SHANGHAI) Corporation, which was established in Shanghai in August 2003. Having eight branches in major Chinese cities, this company not only deals with all the products manufactured at the production bases in China but is also responsible for aftersales activities as well as sales in other Asian nations. For the sales function in the ASEAN region, ANEST IWATA established ANEST IWATA Southeast Asia Co., Ltd. in 2002, ANEST IWATA MOTHERSON COATING EQUIPMENT Private Ltd. in 2006, ANEST IWATA VIETNAM Co., Ltd. in 2013 and PT. ANEST IWATA Indonesia and Myanmar Branch in 2014.

The Oceanian region is covered by ANEST IWATA Australia Pty Ltd., which began to deal with the sale and servicing of air compressors as it absorbed the business of Broadbent, a local air compressor supplier, in 2016. For the air compressor business, ANEST IWATA Industrial Machinery (Jiaxing) Company Limited was founded in June 2002, and ANEST IWATA KOREA Corporation in South Korea in 2005. As a base for the production and supply of air compressors in the ASEAN region, ANEST IWATA Southeast Asia Co., Ltd. was established in Thailand. In China, ANEST IWATA Shanghai Trading Corporation was founded in 2011. As an organization to specialize in repair and parts supply for air compressors in Japan, ANEST IWATA established ANEST IWATA Service Corporation in 1995. In 2015, it merged with the domestic sales department of ANEST IWATA Corporation, which was dedicated to the sale of air compressor, and made a new start while changing its name to ANEST IWATA COMPRESSOR Corporation. Later, this company began to sell vacuum pump equipment as well. ANEST IWATA COATING SOLUTIONS Corporation, which is in charge of sales and service activities for the domestic coating equipment business, was founded in 2007 as a company dedicated to before- and after-sales services with the aim of improving customer satisfaction in the coating equipment market. With the sale of coating equipment and systems transferred from the domestic sales department of ANEST IWATA, this company now operates more closely with coating professionals. The above is a summary of what has happened in recent years. Even now, ANEST IWATA is still working actively to expand its sales and production networks at home and abroad. Furthermore, it is realigning functions among its group companies repeatedly to achieve function enhancements.

Let's go back in time a little. In 1990, there was an increasingly widening gap between the economic boom and the real economy and, in 1991, our country saw its economy take a sudden downturn. It was the bursting of the economic bubble. The business slowdown suddenly shrank the market, turning the production facilities that companies had installed to meet the demands of the bubble economy into excess investments. The bubble economy burst started to affect Japan in the second half of 1991, with demands becoming sluggish in the auto, electronics and housing industries. In 1993, Iwata Air Compressor Mfg. Co., Ltd. declared the start of management reform and launched measures to achieve the globalization of business with a potentially prolonged recession in mind and reform the management system drastically while addressing the problems with the Japanese-style management. The focus was on the "promotion of strategic management" and "transformation of the corporate culture." This 21st century project involved reorganizing the company from every aspect, from organizations and systems to strategy and corporate culture. In October 1996, the company changed its name to ANEST IWATA Corporation as it marked the 70th anniversary of its foundation. "ANEST" stands for "Active & Newest Technology." It means that we should be a development-oriented company that is always vigorous and possesses cutting-edge technologies. The corporate mark was also redesigned to represent the words "EARNEST" and "HONEST," which reflect the corporate philosophy of "Makotono kokoro" (Trustworthy & Sincere) that has been passed on since the foundation of the company. Also formulated was "ANEST IWATA Vision." With the new company name reflecting its strong will and determination toward reform, the company made a new start. Later, in 2014, the company formulated a management policy for the ANEST IWATA group with the aim of promoting global business expansion. The structural reform efforts that began in 1993 were successful to some extent in improving the company's business performance. With the recession showing no signs of letting up, however, ANEST IWATA saw its performance decline again in 1997. The business environment became even harsherin 1998, bringing the company into severe competition again. Still, ANEST IWATA never ceased to take thorough antirecession measures, implement structural reform for the next century and invest in growth. Partly thanks to these efforts, the company posted increases in earnings and profits for six consecutive years from 2002. The joy was short-lived, however. Following the global financial crisis that was trigger in 2008, Japan had to experience the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, which inflicted damage on Fukushima Factory as well. These events put the company's business and management to further test.