In the past, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause were regarded as taboo subjects in the workplace and related concerns were left unaddressed as matters individuals were supposed to deal with on their own. Now some companies have begun efforts to use so-called femtech (products and services that incorporate technology to address women’s health) to improve the mental and physical status of women and take maximum advantage of their professional abilities. This article introduces two companies offering femtech services aimed at contributing to the creation of a society where everyone can shine.

Women’s health goes high-tech

　Femtech, a portmanteau of female and technology, was coined by Danish entrepreneur Ida Tin, the chairwoman of Clue. The word has been gaining currency since around 2016 after she used it to solicit investment in the Clue menstrual cycle forecasting app she developed. The app garnered attention for its claim to solve worries specific to women, who represent half the population of the planet. Investment is gradually increasing, driven by expectations for growth.

Personal or global in scope?

What are the impacts of mental and physical health issues on working women? Needless to say, they are unique to women, but there are findings that suggest the impact goes beyond the personal and negatively affects society at large.

For example, menstruation is said to cause economic and societal losses. The annual financial burden from the associated symptoms, including loss of labor, doctors’ fees and medicine costs, is estimated to total about ¥700 billion, according to a report by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Healthcare Industries Division from March 2019.

In addition, female-specific events can cause some to give up their career plans. For example, women with fertility problems are often forced to accept changes in employment status or quit if treatment makes it too difficult to continue. Some give up promotions or even resign due to the difficulties posed by menopausal disorders. According to a March 2018 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, women forced to quit their jobs to continue fertility treatment came to 22.7%, with 9.7% giving up on treatment due to difficulties posed by work, bringing the total to 32.4%. This finding suggests changes and declines in mental and physical condition specific to women are making it too difficult to achieve their career goals.

The desire to address these female-specific issues was behind the birth of femtech. Now, the question is what are the solutions femtech aims to provide?

Women facing their bodies

“There are few opportunities for women to learn about their own bodies,” Risa Nasu, deputy general manager of MTI Ltd.’s Luna Luna business division, said. “It’s important for them to have the correct knowledge.”

Although many women experience severe menstrual pain and symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, “there are many who do not regard premenstrual pains as disorders. They tend to take it for granted that they have to deal with the pains themselves simply because they are women,” Nasu said. Since it is difficult to compare one’s cramps with somebody else’s, women tend not to think of going to the doctor if they do not regard such pain as an illness, she said.

“Menstruation is a mechanism in which hormonal changes cause physical conditions to change, and it’s by no means a temperamental issue specific to women,” she said. “It’s important to understand that it’s a legitimate bodily mechanism.”

Therefore, acquiring practical knowledge about their own bodies is the first step women should take, Nasu said.

MTI’s femtech service helps women understand and manage their menstrual cycles so they can deal with their bodies and correctly understand them.

A GNT company is one operating in a market that is not particularly large, but it holds an overwhelming share in said market, and is an important presence that supports global supply chains. The ministry previously selected 100 such companies in fiscal year 2013. Why is METI creating another list? “It’s been over six years, and the business environment surrounding Japanese companies has since changed dramatically,” Tetsuro Yamaguchi, the ministry’s chief deputy director of the aerospace and defense industry division, said.

“As they faced a changing social structure caused by factors such as the development of the digital economy, a rapidly changing global political-economic landscape, declining birthrate and aging population, it’s become more important than ever for businesses to have advantages that rivals don’t.”

The key for businesses to build a stable profit base unaffected by external factors is to build on their unique technologies and business models, while increasing market shares and competitiveness. In addition, it is ever more significant for companies to establish a singular, indispensable presence in supply chains they are a part of, in view of the current situation, where many businesses are forced to change their ways of production and procurement amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The average company of the selected 113 has a global share of 43.4 percent and an operating margin of 12.7 percent. Its overseas operation generates 45 percent of its overall revenue. The market for the products and services by each of these companies is expected to at least double over the next five to 10 years, making them promising companies that have potential for further growth. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said these companies are “essential and indispensable to global industry, not just Japan’s.”

What is the secret of their strength or the source of their competitiveness? It can be broken down into three elements: narrow focus on a single market, indispensability of their role and difficulty in imitating their offerings.

Addressing special cases

Nikkari Co. in Okayama Prefecture manufactures the Monorack, a monorail system used by farmers to transport produce over steep slopes in mountainous regions. It is Japan’s first such farm-use monorail system. The first example of this equipment was completed over half a century ago. It has since found use overseas, such as in an Italian vineyard.

Another example of a company that has established a strong position in a very specialized market is Utsunomiya’s Rheon Automatic Machinery Co., which introduced the world’s first commercial machinery that automatically wraps fillings in dough, for bakeries. The company has adapted the machine to specific local needs and now has customers in 125 countries.

There are several companies that support manufacturing by offering devices that serve specific needs or take on specialized production processes in the manufacturing industry. These include Kanefusa Corp. in Niwa, Aichi Prefecture, that manufactures single-use cold saws, or circular saws used at ambient temperatures to cut industrial components, such as steel pipes used in automotive industries. Another is Fukui’s Takeda Machine Tools Co., a maker of duplex milling machines that produce metal plates for mold bases and mechanical parts.