【Technology Succession Report 2026】Manufacturing Industry: Successor Absence Rate Improves, but Skill Transfer Remains a Challenge
HainuTech Holdings Co., Ltd. has released a report analyzing the challenges of business and technical succession in Japan's manufacturing industry. While the successor absence rate is improving, skill transfer remains a significant issue, highlighting the importance of 'platform-type succession.'
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 13, 2026 at 22:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 13, 2026 at 13:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 13, 2026 at 14:00 (28 min after Collected)
HainuTech Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chikugo City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Representative Director and President: Hirofumi Ichimaru) focused on the increasingly serious issues of business succession and technical succession in the Japanese manufacturing industry. To clarify their structural background, the company organized and analyzed publicly available official statistics and private survey data.
This survey suggests that while business succession is progressing across all industries, the manufacturing industry still faces challenges in the succession of core technologies and skills. It indicates that maintaining technology and human resources through succession within a single company is becoming difficult. This situation could affect the sustainability of the technological foundation supporting supply chains. Against the backdrop of these challenges, business succession in the manufacturing industry is believed to be evolving from mere M&A to value creation through the integration of technology, human resources, and management foundations. There is also a movement to expand the unit of succession from 'companies' to 'technology, human resources, and management foundations,' increasing the importance of 'platform-type succession,' which integrates and maintains technological foundations across multiple companies. In particular, integrating core technologies that are difficult for individual companies to maintain across multiple entities is suggested as one direction to enhance the effectiveness of succession in the manufacturing industry.
1. Succession Environment Improving, but Skill Transfer Remains a Challenge
According to Teikoku Databank's 'Successor Absence Rate Survey (2025),' the successor absence rate for Japanese companies is 50.1%, marking a decrease for seven consecutive years since 2018. Notably, the manufacturing industry's rate is 42.4%, which is below the average for all industries.
Figure 1: Japan's corporate successor absence rate declines for 7 consecutive years (2018 → 2025)
Figure 2: Manufacturing industry's successor absence rate is below the all-industry average (industry comparison)
This improvement is believed to be due to a combination of the following factors. Particularly in the manufacturing industry, many companies possess highly transferable management resources such as patents, customer certifications, skilled personnel, and equipment, leading to strong acquisition demand from competitors, operating companies, and investment funds.
Factors improving the succession environment:
① Expansion of the business succession tax system (special measures) in 2018
② Penetration of free matching support by business succession and transfer support centers in all 47 prefectures nationwide
③ Maturation of the SME M&A market and brokerage platforms
④ Change in management awareness to choose third-party succession rather than sticking to family succession
On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's 'Monozukuri White Paper 2024' reveals that 61.8% of the manufacturing industry responded that they 'lack personnel to provide skill instruction,' and 70.5% are 'transferring skills through re-employment of retirees.' This confirms that while succession is progressing, maintaining skills on the ground remains a challenge.
These results suggest that the 'presence' of successors and 'skill transfer' are not necessarily aligned issues.
Figure 3: Manufacturing industry shows a significant shortage of skill instruction personnel and reliance on re-employment of retirees
2. Structural Constraints Unique to the Manufacturing Industry
The manufacturing industry has characteristics where the exit of one company can significantly impact the entire supply chain, due to the long period required for technology transfer and the need for continuous supplier certification (quality/process approval from business partners) and quality control. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's 'Monozukuri White Paper 2025' points out that the decrease in young workers and the aging population are accelerating the structural contraction of the labor supply. Therefore, improving the successor absence rate alone is not sufficient to ensure the sustainability of industrial functions.
3. Potential of 'Platform-Type Succession'
Under these circumstances, 'platform-type succession,' which integrates multiple companies to maintain technology, human resources, and management functions across them, is particularly attracting attention in the manufacturing industry. This model expands the scope of succession from individual companies to structural units such as 'technology foundations,' 'talent pools,' and 'management foundations,' and has the following characteristics:
Integration of technology foundations: Multiple companies jointly own core technologies with high substitutability and complementarity that are difficult for individual companies to maintain.
Cross-utilization of human resources: Optimal allocation of skilled workers and young personnel within the group to accelerate skill transfer.
Consolidation of management functions: Streamlining common back-office functions such as procurement, accounting, and recruitment to reduce succession costs.
However, many of these initiatives primarily focus on improving management efficiency and consolidating functions, and have not yet reached the point of maintaining and developing technology itself, or structural reorganization with a view to the entire supply chain. Approaches that integrate and reconstruct technological foundations across multiple entities are limited.
4. Industry-wide Trends
'Platform-type succession' is gaining traction in the manufacturing industry, and its approaches are broadly categorized as follows. *This categorization is independently organized by our company based on public information and case studies from various companies.
① Holdings type (integration of management functions)
A model that bundles multiple companies to consolidate management control functions and enhance business sophistication.
(Example: Serendip Holdings Co., Ltd.)
This survey suggests that while business succession is progressing across all industries, the manufacturing industry still faces challenges in the succession of core technologies and skills. It indicates that maintaining technology and human resources through succession within a single company is becoming difficult. This situation could affect the sustainability of the technological foundation supporting supply chains. Against the backdrop of these challenges, business succession in the manufacturing industry is believed to be evolving from mere M&A to value creation through the integration of technology, human resources, and management foundations. There is also a movement to expand the unit of succession from 'companies' to 'technology, human resources, and management foundations,' increasing the importance of 'platform-type succession,' which integrates and maintains technological foundations across multiple companies. In particular, integrating core technologies that are difficult for individual companies to maintain across multiple entities is suggested as one direction to enhance the effectiveness of succession in the manufacturing industry.
1. Succession Environment Improving, but Skill Transfer Remains a Challenge
According to Teikoku Databank's 'Successor Absence Rate Survey (2025),' the successor absence rate for Japanese companies is 50.1%, marking a decrease for seven consecutive years since 2018. Notably, the manufacturing industry's rate is 42.4%, which is below the average for all industries.
Figure 1: Japan's corporate successor absence rate declines for 7 consecutive years (2018 → 2025)
Figure 2: Manufacturing industry's successor absence rate is below the all-industry average (industry comparison)
This improvement is believed to be due to a combination of the following factors. Particularly in the manufacturing industry, many companies possess highly transferable management resources such as patents, customer certifications, skilled personnel, and equipment, leading to strong acquisition demand from competitors, operating companies, and investment funds.
Factors improving the succession environment:
① Expansion of the business succession tax system (special measures) in 2018
② Penetration of free matching support by business succession and transfer support centers in all 47 prefectures nationwide
③ Maturation of the SME M&A market and brokerage platforms
④ Change in management awareness to choose third-party succession rather than sticking to family succession
On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's 'Monozukuri White Paper 2024' reveals that 61.8% of the manufacturing industry responded that they 'lack personnel to provide skill instruction,' and 70.5% are 'transferring skills through re-employment of retirees.' This confirms that while succession is progressing, maintaining skills on the ground remains a challenge.
These results suggest that the 'presence' of successors and 'skill transfer' are not necessarily aligned issues.
Figure 3: Manufacturing industry shows a significant shortage of skill instruction personnel and reliance on re-employment of retirees
2. Structural Constraints Unique to the Manufacturing Industry
The manufacturing industry has characteristics where the exit of one company can significantly impact the entire supply chain, due to the long period required for technology transfer and the need for continuous supplier certification (quality/process approval from business partners) and quality control. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's 'Monozukuri White Paper 2025' points out that the decrease in young workers and the aging population are accelerating the structural contraction of the labor supply. Therefore, improving the successor absence rate alone is not sufficient to ensure the sustainability of industrial functions.
3. Potential of 'Platform-Type Succession'
Under these circumstances, 'platform-type succession,' which integrates multiple companies to maintain technology, human resources, and management functions across them, is particularly attracting attention in the manufacturing industry. This model expands the scope of succession from individual companies to structural units such as 'technology foundations,' 'talent pools,' and 'management foundations,' and has the following characteristics:
Integration of technology foundations: Multiple companies jointly own core technologies with high substitutability and complementarity that are difficult for individual companies to maintain.
Cross-utilization of human resources: Optimal allocation of skilled workers and young personnel within the group to accelerate skill transfer.
Consolidation of management functions: Streamlining common back-office functions such as procurement, accounting, and recruitment to reduce succession costs.
However, many of these initiatives primarily focus on improving management efficiency and consolidating functions, and have not yet reached the point of maintaining and developing technology itself, or structural reorganization with a view to the entire supply chain. Approaches that integrate and reconstruct technological foundations across multiple entities are limited.
4. Industry-wide Trends
'Platform-type succession' is gaining traction in the manufacturing industry, and its approaches are broadly categorized as follows. *This categorization is independently organized by our company based on public information and case studies from various companies.
① Holdings type (integration of management functions)
A model that bundles multiple companies to consolidate management control functions and enhance business sophistication.
(Example: Serendip Holdings Co., Ltd.)