Strategy

Global Special Feature Vol. 1: AMERICAS

Acceleration of Business Growthin the Americas
Q How would you define the current position of Olympus’ business in the Americas andachievement against the 16CSP?
Abia

Our business in the Americas is in good health, and continues
to grow despite some challenges in the market. We currently
contribute 34% to the global annual revenues for theCompany; something for which we are very proud. Our businesses in the United States and Canada remain strong, andour Latin America Division has demonstrated great strides
over the last several years by enhancing governance andcompliance, communication, and relationships with distributors. There is a significant amount of opportunity in emerging
markets such as Mexico and Brazil, and we continue to identify
new opportunities to grow our businesses and help meet theneeds of our customers and the people in these regions.

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The 16CSP continues to guide our business activities
and decision-making. We have made significant progress insome areas—such as EndoTherapy, the Surgical Businessand Company Culture—while we continue to work towards
achieving other goals outlined in the 16CSP. At the sametime, we must remain agile as a company and adapt ourpriorities at any time to focus on what is ultimately best forthe business and our stakeholders.

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Nacho Abia
President & CEO, Olympus Corporation ofthe Americas (OCA)24

One Olympus Report 2018

Olympus Corporation of the Americas (OCA) continues to demonstrate its stability and good health,contributing approx. more than 30% to Olympus’ global annual revenues.
Nacho Abia, President & CEO of OCA, and Todd Usen, President of the Medical Systems Group OCA,
explain the Company’s groundwork for success and strategic plans for driving growth well into the future.

Q How would you define the groundwork for success in the Americas and keeping the businessin good health?
AbiaOverall, the success of our Company is built on the foundationof three key components: People, Efficiency, and Investments.
Above all else, people make up the fabric of our Company. We
have a team of strong and dedicated employees who arecommitted to carrying out our purpose of making people’s
lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling every day.
Over the last few years, we have placed a strong emphasis on hiring talented and tenured individuals from outside
the Company to assume a breadth of executive-level andsenior management roles, many within our MedicalBusiness. We are extremely fortunate to have these talented
individuals join Olympus from other prominent medicalFEA

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device and pharmaceutical companies, as they continuously
strengthen our leadership and move the Company forward.
Efficiency is also a key component to success. In 2013,I established an internal business practice known as “E3,”which strives to ensure that everything we do as a company
is Effective, Efficient, and Excellent. As part of this initiative,
I encouraged employees to continuously be mindful of how
we can achieve E3 on a daily basis. Today, E3 is ingrainedin our culture. Over the years, it has created a very costconscious mentality. Employees are respectful of spending,and proactively consider where we can be more efficientin our processes and operations. Because of these efforts,
our SG&A has remained level over the years.

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Todd Usen
President, Medical Systems Group,Olympus Corporation ofthe Americas (OCA)One Olympus Report 201825

StrategyGlobal Special Feature Vol. 1: AMERICASSPECIAL

Some other focus areas for improving efficiency andmaximizing operations include modifying organizational
structures to ensure the right people are in the right roles
across the Company, further advancing globalization, andapplying our “One Olympus” mentality of working together
across businesses, entities and regions.
Thanks to our successful efforts in efficiency, we haveFEATURE

positioned ourselves well to invest in the Company.
Investments are critical for any company’s success; and you
must be willing to invest in order to grow a business. We feelstrongly about the merit of this approach and continue tomake wise, thought-out investments. In the last five years,
we have invested in several large-scale projects, while
maintaining level expenses year-over-year. These projects
include three new manufacturing and repair facilities toexpand our capabilities and customer service; system
implementations to improve efficiency such as SAP,
Salesforce, and Salesforce Asset Management; and a brandinitiative to further promote our brand and build equity.
Finally, over the last year, business development has
become a focal point and critical activity for driving growth,
especially within our Medical Business. Todd Usen,President, Medical Systems Group, Olympus Corporation of
the Americas, will explain more about our growth strategies
in this area.

In October 2017, Olympus commenced operations of its new National Service Center
East and medical asset warehouse/distribution center in Bartlett, Tennessee. An invest­
ment of more than $12 million, the 110,000 square-foot facility is projected to createapproximately 280 jobs in disciplines such as medical device repair, distribution,and management.

Q Would you explain your main focus areas for the Gastroenterology & Respiratory (GI&R) andSurgical businesses?

Usen

A major focus of ours is on Infection Prevention. We takeour role in enhancing patient safety very seriously andcontinuously seek to improve the next generation of ourproducts. Our ultimate goal is not to control infections but
to prevent them.
For the Gastroenterology & Respiratory (GI&R) business,
two keys areas of focus will be artificial intelligence (AI) andtherapeutic endoscopy. The integration of AI into colonoscopy procedure holds great promise for the future of GI
screening for physicians and patients. By incorporating AI,
we are investing in technology that will elevate all clinicians
while unlocking new ways to treat disease for patients. Inaddition, we are always striving, whether organically orinorganically, to enhance our endoluminal therapy portfolio
to meet the clinical needs of our customers and lead the way
in identifying new treatment modalities.
For the Surgical Business, our key initiatives are System
Integration, Big Screen Surgery and Adjacent Markets. We
have greatly strengthened our enterprise system integration capabilities and are well-positioned to seize newopportunities, thanks to our acquisition of Image Stream
Medical, Inc., in 2017. Our integration solutions allow
surgical and interventional clinicians to virtually connect
and collaborate in ways that have not been possible,
practical, or cost-effective before.

The only fully integrated 4K imaging chain available for healthcare use, VISERA 4K
UHD allows operating room (OR) personnel to get closer to the operating field as theyview cases live on a 55-inch operative display that magnifies anatomical features todeliver more visual information to the entire surgical team.

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One Olympus Report 2018

Big Screen Surgery with 4K capabilities has been a gamechanger for surgery and for Olympus, positioning us wellagainst our competitors. Olympus offers the only fully integrated 4K imaging chain available for healthcare use.
Through this cutting-edge technology, we are able toaddress unmet needs in surgical imaging. Operating room(O.R.) personnel can now view cases live on a 55-inch
operative display that magnifies anatomical features todeliver more visual information to the entire surgical team.
Additionally, ORBEYE—our 4K-3D Video Microscope used
for surgical visualization and winner of a 2018 Edison
Award—represents an area of growth as we aim to promote
the device across multiple specialties such as neurosurgery,spine, microsurgery, ENT and cardiac. Furthermore, we will
focus on adjacent markets and growing our presence in
office-based technology and procedures, and seek newopportunities for selling to offices. We will expand our strategy in gynecology and women’s health, building upon ouralready strong core competencies in this area.

The precise 4K-3D digital images from the new ORBEYE surgical microscope canenable more accurate surgery by providing high-resolution 3D imaging of the structureof tissue, blood vessels and other features.

Q What is your vision for the future of Olympus’ US Medical Business (medium-to long-term goals)?
UsenTo continue to thrive as a global technology leader andhealthcare provider, we will concentrate on several keyareas. Meeting the value needs of our customers and focusing on the “voice of our customers” is top priority. The Voiceof the Customer today consists of the provider (physician),the patient, and the payer. We must understand the needsof all three to fully create, and bring value to our customers.
We must also continue to emphasize our offerings andsolutions beyond capital equipment and evolve to aprocedure-based company, emphasizing disposable andminimally invasive device technologies. We will continue
exploring a presence in adjacent markets and specialties,
such as orthopedics, where our technology can improveoutcomes and enhance patient satisfaction.
Both organic and inorganic growth will be critical for thefuture health of our Medical Business. Mergers and acquisitions have become a critical activity for driving growth, andwill continue to be part of our strategy moving forward.
Within the last year, we have successfully invested in morethan six inorganic growth opportunities including the acquisition of Image Stream Medical. Further enhancing

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relationships with Group Purchasing Organizations andIntegrated Delivery Networks in the United States will also bepart of our strategy. Over the last couple of years, we havetaken our key account management to a much higher levelby successfully restructuring the internal team focused onthese relationships. The team has been very successful andrecently signed some major partnership agreements including Kaiser, Providence, North Well and North Shore.
Finally, to truly be prepared for the future, we must continue to provide value and prove our value. Competition in
the medical device industry is becoming more difficult andcompanies are becoming more powerful as they join forces.
Within Olympus, we must share our skills and knowledge
globally, and work together to advance our globalization
efforts. This unification will enable us to further diversify ourofferings, adapt to the needs of our customers, and establish new solutions for patient care.
Olympus is a company committed to people, and what wedo truly matters. This is why we must prove our value day
after day, and never become complacent with the status quo.

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