NSK joins forces with Accenture to ‘re-invent’ itself
28 April 2026 
The world’s third-largest manufacturer of bearings, Japan’s NSK, has teamed up with the management consultancy Accenture to “re-invent” itself through AI and digital technology, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth and enhanced enterprise value. NSK will use digital capabilities to optimise its business operations and expand its investment capacity, while helping its employees to work more effectively, and developing initiatives designed to drive profitable growth.
NSK – which claims to be the world’s largest ballscrew-maker – will undertake a “fundamental overhaul” of its operations and business processes, focusing on its back-office functions. This includes progressively expanding automation, streamlining and transparency across the organisation, including through the use of AI. NSK will further optimise its operations and systems to reallocate resources toward areas that will drive its growth and strengthen its competitiveness.
NSK says that the collaboration with Accenture “will unleash the full potential of NSK’s manufacturing operations” through faster, AI- and data-driven decision-making, alongside the automation and optimisation of high-burden tasks and production processes on the factory floor, enabling people to focus on higher‑value work. Additionally, Accenture will offer reskilling programmes to help NSK’s workers to grow alongside these technologies to adapt their skills and expand their career opportunities.
“Japanese manufacturing has long been defined by the exceptional strength of its frontline workforce, yet the industry has faced persistent challenges around the speed of management, decision-making and execution,” points out Dai Hamaoka, president of Accenture Japan. “This initiative harnesses AI and data to continuously drive structural reform and growth investment in tandem. Through our collaboration with NSK, we aim to help build a management model that improves both adaptability and responsiveness to change, designed to continuously generate results.
“We also intend to contribute insights and outcomes gained into strengthening the broader competitiveness of Japanese manufacturing,” he adds. “Our goal is to create an environment where people in manufacturing can find genuine pride and purpose, keeping Japanese manufacturing a destination of choice for talent, even as the competition for talent intensifies.”
NSK’s president and CEO, Akitoshi Ichii, describes the partnership with Accenture as “a bold step in NSK’s evolution toward a management model that continuously drives structural reform and growth investment in tandem – a virtuous cycle we intend to sustain for the long term. At its heart, this collaboration is about management reform that ignites the full potential of our frontline workforce.
“Through talent development and skills advancement, we will maximise the operational strength that is the source of our competitiveness, while building an environment where our employees can take genuine pride and find deep meaning in their work,” he continues. “This year marks NSK’s 110th anniversary, and we remain committed to advancing the reforms this partnership enables, ensuring we endure as a company that society needs and trusts.”
As part of the programme, NSK plans to invest in the continuous improvement and re-invention of its business operations. Specific initiatives include accelerating the development of new products and businesses, and transforming its sales and marketing activities
NSK produced the first bearings in Japan in 1916. Since the early 1960s, the company has expanded globally and now employs more than 24,000 people and has operations in around 30 countries. It says it ranks third in the world in the field of bearings, and leads the world in ballscrews, electric power steering, and other products.
