Mitsuhiro Shima is president of Shima Seiki. He was the vice president. He replaces his father and company founder Masahiro Shima. Masahiro is now chairman of the board of directors.

Mitsuhiro Shima joined the company in 1987. He became a director in 2002 and executive director in 2007. He has been in charge of system development, machinery production, material purchasing and corporate planning before becoming vice president in 2012.

The transition takes place during financially favorable times, just as the company announced one of its best fiscal years in its 55-year history. This includes a 25.9 per cent increase in net sales, a 94.8 per cent increase in operating income, and a 121.6 per cent increase in net profit over the previous fiscal year.

Shima Seiki is a Japanese flat knit machine manufacturer. Founded in 1962 and soon became an industry pioneer with Masahiro's invention, the fully automated glove knitting machine and the fully automated seamless glove knitting machine. The seamless glove became inspiration for the eventual development of the seam-free whole garment knitting technology for which the company is now best known. Meanwhile it became an industry leader through its continuous innovation and consistent renewal of benchmark technology which more often than not has become the reference standard for the industry.