Wibu-Systems extends its worldwide reach with a new office in Japan

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A new strategic foothold to accelerate the interdependence of humans and machines in a totally digital society

Mr. Marcus Schuermann, Managing Director of AHK Japan, Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Oliver Winzenried, CEO of WIBU-SYSTEMS AG, Yasukazu Irino, Executive Vice President of JETRO, and Tomoki Maruyama, Representative Director of WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K. ©Manfred Knopp

Karlsruhe, Germany – On October 30th, WIBU-SYSTEMS AG celebrated the official opening of its new wholly owned daughter company, WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K., in Tokyo, Japan, together with the German-Japanese delegation and local industry luminaries. The new Far Eastern stronghold adds to the existing subsidiaries in Europe, U.S., and Asia Pacific that Wibu-Systems has created over the last 30 years.

The constant investments into high-tech innovation, the high-quality standards of its automation and medical industries in particular, and the vision of Society 5.0 propelled by a combination of digitization, AI, Big Data, smart factories, and smart society, make Japan an excellent gateway for digitally enabled business models. The opportunities already generated over the last decades by Wibu-Systems’ local distributor, Suncarla Corp., have shown that there is even greater potential to tap into. As part of its steady expansion plan, the international leading vendor of secure license management solutions has opted for a collaboration model between the existing channel and the new team.

WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K. will be managed by Tomoki Maruyama as Representative Director under the leadership of Oliver Winzenried, CEO and founder of WIBU-SYSTEMS AG. Mr. Maruyama has thirty years of embedded software and system business experience for various industries, including industrial automation and robotics, automotive, electronics, and medical technology in Japan. Before joining Wibu-Systems, he held a sales management position at MathWorks Japan for nine years and a country management role at a security solutions provider. At WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K., Mr. Maruyama is charged with raising awareness for Wibu-Systems’ software and hardware-based cybersecurity portfolio and contributing to building secure protection and licensing mechanisms for the embedded software used in industrial automation and robotics in Japan.

Mr. Maruyama will be assisted locally by Yasuaki Mori, Corporate Advisor of WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K. With his background in executive leadership and management, strategic joint ventures and partnerships, and organizational development in areas such as wireless, mobility, IoT, cybersecurity, storage, and computing, Mr. Mori, past President and Board Member and current Advisor of Infineon Technologies Japan K.K., is perfectly positioned to take well-planned initiatives and drive Wibu-Systems’ business forward.

The opening ceremony of WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K. took place last night at Hoorai Hall, Meiji Kinenkan, 2-2-23 Moto Akasaka, Minato-ku Tokyo. Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), and the German delegation have paid a visit on their tour to meet Oliver Winzenried, CEO and founder of the parent company, and the representatives of the new enterprise to congratulate this new endeavor and emphasize the collaborative spirit of the two nations. The heads of WIBU-SYSTEMS K.K. have hosted a brief press conference that outlined the steps they are taking to build a high-profile network with industry moguls in Japan, facilitated by Yasukazu Irino, Executive Vice President of the Japan External Trade Organization JETRO, Marcus Schuermann, Managing Director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (AHK Japan), the German Engineering Federation VDMA’s Japan Liaison Office, and the Robot Revolution Initiative (RRI), whose Security Expert Group Wibu-Systems is already contributing to as a full member.

Oliver Winzenried states: “We are extremely grateful to Shigeji Kobayashi, CEO of Suncarla Corp., for his unwavering support in the last twenty years. It is now time for us to step up and invest in an independent facility that can provide dedicated expertise to local software-powered businesses and intelligent device manufacturers. Our protection, licensing, and security technologies are facilitating the digital transformation movement in many fields of work and geographies: Japan is our next frontier. We are sure that Mr. Maruyama and Mr. Mori will put their business development skills to work and produce stellar results.”

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