Sumitomo Osaka considers streamlining transport operations, Japan

Sumitomo Osaka Cement is considering an overhaul of the group’s transport operation as it prepares to mark 20 years since the company was merged into a single entity.

The Nikkei reports that the Japanese cement producer aims to integrate two transport subsidiaries, Sumise Kaiun Co and Taiyo Kisen Co, in order to revamp its logistics structure which has been in place since the old Sumitomo Cement and former Osaka Cement merged to become Sumitomo Osaka in October 1994.

The two transport units and Sumitomo Osaka’s own four transport divisions will likely combine to form a new company to be established around the first-half 2013. The streamlining is expected to increase group operating profit by around JPY2bn for the fiscal ending March 2014, with some benefits being seen as early as the second half of this current fiscal. A special committee has begun considering the proposal and is expected to compile measures this fiscal.