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SONY CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT 2000
6
work in research and development. Regarding consolidation of our manufacturing plants, we
reduced the number of facilities from 70 to 64 as of March 31, 2000, and we raised the effi-
ciency of production within the Sony Group through actions including the outsourcing of the
production of mature products such as alkaline batteries.
During the year ending March 31, 2001, we plan to continue focusing on our key businesses
and realigning manufacturing activities, outsourcing production, building new supply chains,
maintaining proper employment levels, and taking other restructuring measures. In addition, in
the second half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001, we expect to establish new Production
Platform Companies to manage manufacturing in areas such as product design, mass production,
inventory management, and logistics. Upon establishing these Production Platform Companies,
the role of the existing Network Companies will be redefined as Business Creation Units that will
concentrate on research and development, business planning, product planning, and basic
design. In this way, we plan to strengthen the functioning of both the Network Companies and
the Production Platform Companies.
In January 2000, we completed the privatization of three previously listed subsidiaries, Sony
Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., Sony Chemical Corporation, and Sony Precision Technology
Inc., to facilitate the implementation of our group strategy and to respond more rapidly to
changing circumstances in the network environment.
To make “Value Creation Management” a reality, during the year under review, we intro-
duced EVA®, a performance indicator that reflects the cost of capital, as a measurement tool for
evaluating our performance in our Electronics business. We plan to expand EVA® to other busi-
ness fields of the Sony Group starting from the fiscal year that began in April 2000 and to use it
for business planning, performance monitoring, and evaluating investment. Additionally, part of
the remuneration for directors and corporate executive officers became dependent on EVA® as of