Research and Development

Transcription

1 Research and Development As part of its commitment to achieving sustainable growth in corporate value, the Teijin Group is striving to ensure consistently profitable growth by reinforcing existing businesses, as well as cultivating and growing new businesses. To this end, the Group is augmenting the strengths of individual businesses, which have been spun off into independent companies with the adoption of a holding company system. These efforts are supported by the Group s R&D road map, which focuses on developing innovative technologies, enhancing production technologies and increasing the value of intellectual property, and by the cultivation of crucial human resources in both research and product development. Research and Development 28 Intellectual Property 32 27

2 Research and Development Research and Development To date, Teijin has capitalized on its accumulated expertise in polymer science to cultivate a variety of new businesses. Today, guided by its brand statement, Human Chemistry, Human Solutions, the Teijin Group is endeavoring to enhance its core competencies as well as provide solutions that deliver the real value that society and our customers expect. In line with its belief that technology is a crucial aspect of management, the Teijin Group has integrated its management, technology and marketing strategies to form a detailed R&D road map. This will guide efforts to develop innovative technologies, enhance production technologies and increase the value of intellectual property, as well as to bring technologies and intellectual assets to play in all aspects of Group R&D. We are also reinforcing efforts to cultivate crucial human resources in both research and product development. Basic Approach to R&D Basic strategic approach Our technology strategy plan outlines three key considerations: contribution to sustainable growth, speed of application and global relevance. Contribution to sustainable growth Sustainable growth for the Teijin Group depends on our ability to continuously cultivate successful businesses. Accordingly, we are concentrating R&D investments in promising, strategically important areas, and taking steps to improve the efficiency of R&D activities. Environmental sustainability is another aspect of this consideration, and we thus prioritize projects that have the potential to reduce environmental load. This is the rationale behind our efforts to develop fiber-to-fiber, bottle-to-bottle, film-to-film and other chemical recycling technologies, as well as heavy metal-free catalysts. CSO CTO CMO Research & Technological Strategy Meeting R&D road map Speed of application This refers to potential not only for shortening the development cycle but also for facilitating the timely launch of products, an essential condition of market leadership. We are promoting collaboration with customers, as well as with academic institutions and research organizations from initial research through to development with the aim of expediting the transformation of technologies into commercially viable products. Developing innovative technologies Enhancing production technologies Contribution to sustainable growth Speed to market Global relevance Increasing the value of intellectual property Global relevance The ability to provide solutions that respond to market needs and cultivate new markets depends on a global perspective as well as a global R&D network. The Teijin Group scores well on both counts. Currently, we have eight major research sites in Japan and six overseas employing a total of more than 1,400 researchers. Three facilities, one each in Japan, the Netherlands and Thailand, conduct fibers-related R&D. Films- and pharmaceuticals-related R&D are handled by three facilities, in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom. Cultivation of crucial human resources for R&D 28

3 Value-Creating R&D System Toho Tenax Co., Ltd. Toho Tenax R&D Institute (Mishima) Teijin Twaron B.V. Teijin Twaron Institute (Arnhem) Industrial Fibers Business Group Teijin Fibers Limited Textile Technology Development Group (Osaka) Research and Development Center (Matsuyama and Thailand) Textile Fibers Business Group Teijin Techno Products Limited Industrial Fibers Research and Development Department (Osaka, Matsuyama, Iwakuni, Mihara) Industrial Fiber Technology Center (Osaka) Teijin DuPont Films Japan Limited Research and Development Center (Gifu) DuPont Teijin Films U.S. Limited Partnership (Hopewell) DuPont Teijin Films U.K. Limited (Wilton) Films Business Group IT Business Group Infocom Corporation Medical and Pharmaceuticals Business Group Teijin Pharma Limited Teijin Institute for Biomedical Research (Tokyo) Pharmaceutical Discovery Research Laboratories Pharmaceutical Development Research Laboratories Pharmaceutical Products Research Laboratories (Iwakuni) Biomedical Engineering Laboratories (Tokyo) Teijin Biomedical Laboratory Medical Research Council (London) Teijin America, Inc. (Princeton) Plastics Business Group Teijin Chemicals Limited Polymer Science Research Laboratories (Matsuyama) Optical Materials Research Laboratories (Matsuyama) Plastics Technical Center (Chiba) New Business Development Group Teijin Limited Innovation Research Institute (Iwakuni, Tokyo) Electronics Materials Research Laboratories (Tokyo) Structural Analysis Research Laboratories (Tokyo) Teijin Entech Co., Ltd. Engineering Research Center The Teijin Group R&D system An R&D system aimed at proposing solutions to customer needs The Teijin Group s R&D efforts are administered by the Research & Technological Strategy Meeting, which brings together the Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the CTOs of each business group, as well as individuals in charge of intellectual property, marketing and other functions. The Research & Technological Strategy Meeting is responsible for formulating a detailed R&D road map and strategies related to, among others, intellectual property, R&D personnel and technological markets. We have evolved a three-stage R&D system encompassing the discovery of new research seeds; corporate research (Groupwide basic research); and the incubation of new businesses, which includes conducting feasibility studies and developing mass production technologies. These efforts are spearheaded by the New Business Development Group. Individual business groups also conduct R&D aimed at maximizing their own particular strengths. Our approach to R&D is based on collaboration between corporate research personnel and business groups, as well as between marketing and R&D teams. In the period under review, for example, our marketing staff organized independent technology exhibits for major automobile and consumer electronics manufacturers with the aim of discerning customer opinions and incorporating them into R&D from the earliest stages. It has also collaborated with other companies and academic institutions with the intention of accelerating R&D efforts and cultivating cutting-edge research seeds. 29

4 New Business Development Group The New Business Development Group, positioned within the holding company, Teijin Limited, focuses on corporate research business development-oriented research for the Group as a whole and business incubation. These efforts are spearheaded by three facilities. The Innovation Research Institute focuses on emerging core technologies in such areas as polymer nanotechnology, regenerative medicine and innovative battery materials. The Electronics Materials Research Laboratories emphasize LCD-related research. The Structural Analysis Research Laboratories employ state-of-the-art technologies to analyze and assess materials. The New Business Development Group has jurisdiction over these three facilities, as well as over one Group company, which is engaged in the manufacture of high-performance films. themes that transcend business group boundaries. Facilities aligned with materials-related business groups focus not only on development related to Teijin s core polyester, aramid, carbon and polycarbonate materials but also on developing groundbreaking processes and recycling technologies. Facilities related to business groups involved in health care emphasize R&D aimed at developing drugs and home health care devices to provide total health care solutions in three key therapeutic areas bone and joint disease, respiratory disease, and cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Facilities attached to business groups with operations in information and electronics conduct R&D in such areas as optical discs, LCD display components, mobile Internet solutions, life science solutions and knowledge management solutions. Business group-affiliated research laboratories and R&D centers Research laboratories and R&D centers attached to individual business groups strive not only to respond to market trends, but also to work with facilities in related business groups to address New market development Going forward, we will work to maximize our core technological capabilities in the fields of polymer science, pharmacology, biology, information sciences, and electrical and electronics engineering, Nanotechnology Teijin s research in nanotechnology focuses on three areas: nanostructure control technologies, that is, molecular-level polymer engineering and the structural control of material properties using selforganization; nano-order polymer layering and other nanoprocessing technologies; and nanocomposite technologies, which use the controlled dispersion of nano-order materials into polymer to produce high-performance compounds. Nanoprocessing Development of nano-order fibers Nano-order polymer layering Fibers Nano-structure control Polymer engineering Self-organization Films New fields/fields fusing nanotechnology and biotechnologyology Nanocomposite Use of nano-order materials to improve polymer performance Enhance performance (strength, heat-resistance, etc.) of existing materials Develop new functions that lead to the development of new products and markets Apply technologies in new fields, notably regenerative medicine, and fields fusing nanotechnology and biotechnology Plastics 30

5 as well as our expertise in such leading-edge areas as nanotechnology, to develop markets and create value for customers in areas that will allow us to maximize core competencies. We have grouped these into four fields, which we have termed information and electronics, environment and energy, automobiles and aircraft, and health care. Information and electronics offers outstanding potential for the development of applications for various materials produced by the Teijin Group in optical films and other materials used in electric and electronics equipment. In the environment and energy field, we are striving to reduce the impact human beings exert on the global environment. These efforts have already led to the development of the world s first bottle-to-bottle chemical recycling technology. The automobiles and aircraft field promises significant future market growth. We are conducting extensive R&D aimed at developing materials that will contribute to efforts to make automobiles and aircraft lighter and more energy-efficient and enhance performance. In the health care field, we are broadening our focus beyond pharmaceuticals and home health care. We have already commenced R&D in the area of regenerative medicine, which combines biotechnology and polymer nanotechnology. Core Technologies and New Market Development Environment and Energy Recycling Green materials, Environmental remediation Information and Electronics Display materials, Electronic substrate materials, Smart appliance materials, Electronic materials Mobile content/networking Health Care Bone and joint, respiratory, and cardiovascular and metabolic disease therapies Home health care Regenerative medicine Automobiles and Aircraft Lightweight materials, High-strength materials Electronics technologies Current businesses Development stage or preparing for commercialization Research stage Information and Electronics Retardation film Printed circuit board (PCB) High-density memories New optical films New substrate materials Nanocomposite PEN film Organic electroluminescence Paper displays Environment and Energy Chemical recycling technologies Wind generator blades Heavy metal-free catalysts Polycarbonate recycling technologies Photodegradable and biodegradable films Battery materials Heat-resistant PLA Flexible solar battery substrates Automobiles and Aircraft Aircraft structural materials Friction materials (asbestos alternatives) Interior and exterior materials Nanocomposites Increased production of carbon fibers Increased production of aramid fibers New carbon fibers Nanocomposite aramid fibers Nanocomposites Health Care Home health care devices based on HOT technologies Therapies for gout, hyperuricemia Pharmaceutical development New home health care technologies Regenerative medicine 31

6 Research and Development Intellectual Property Intellectual property The Teijin Group views increasing the value of its intellectual property as a key strategic objective. Teijin Intellectual Property Center Limited is responsible for formulating the Group s intellectual property strategies and for identifying innovations that offer market or technological value, progressiveness or originality and are thus eligible for copyright protection, and promoting related R&D. The center maintains close contact with business groups to promote strategies for protecting the Group s intellectual property through the acquisition of patents, trademarks and brand names, while at the same time seeks to secure ownership of strategically valuable new intellectual property. Focus on patent applications in core strategic markets and businesses To maintain a leading global market position in its core businesses, the Teijin Group has designated a number of key strategic areas in which it is developing its capabilities. In the area of R&D, the Group is stepping up efforts to expand its patent portfolio by gaining patent protection for new products, processes and applications, and to analyze patent information. In the electronics field, for example, the Group is seeking patents not only to develop new applications and next-generation materials that it expects will spur demand, but also to take advantage of growth in the markets for films and plastics in the PRC, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and other Asian countries. The Group is also increasing its overseas patent applications in such areas as high-performance fibers for applications in the U.S. and European auto markets. The Group is applying for offshore patents to reinforce its global competitiveness in such areas as home health care and environmental preservation. As a consequence, the number of offshore patents sought by the Group in fiscal 2004 was approximately 20% higher than in fiscal 2002, the year the Group adopted its current holding company system. In line with its strategy of concentration and selectivity, the Teijin Group has divided its business portfolio into strategic and stable-profit businesses. The Group is also stepping up its efforts to acquire patents in strategic businesses, which include industrial fibers, plastics, and pharmaceuticals and home health care. As a result, the number of applications filed in such businesses in fiscal 2004 was significantly higher than in fiscal Recognition of intellectual property creators In line with in-house regulations, the Teijin Group presents financial awards in recognition of the efforts of employees who have created intellectual property in the course of their employment. These include awards for invention and patent acquisition for individuals whose inventions have contributed significantly to the Group s business. This system has proven highly effective in encouraging pride in achievement. The Group continues to modify its award system as necessary to reinforce recognition of inventors and inventions. In the period under review, for example, the cap on the monetary value of such awards was eliminated. 32