CTO, Toshiaki Yatabe
The Teijin group is focusing on “technological innovation” to achieve the mid and long term growth in the key business domains of “Green Chemistry”, “Healthcare”, and integrated fields of these two areas. We are creating new products and services as solutions for our customers not only based on our strength of technologies which the Teijin Group possesses but also new technologies through continuous research and development considering market and technological mega-trends and create new businesses in the high priority areas.
As a result of the global financial crisis that erupted in the fall of 2008, the consumer market shrank, and the manufacturing industry was significantly impacted on a global scale. In the midst of this, the Teijin Group formulated its new “Basic Management Policy” in April 2009, and the new management policy clarified structural reforms that were needed to achieve in short-term in each material business area as well as the future growth strategy that should be achieved in mid- to long-term by the Teijin Group. Based on the Teijin Group's brand statement “Human Chemistry, Human Solution”, the key technologies are specified by the new management policy for achieving the corporate philosophy of “Quality of Life” and include key technologies groups that will enable sustainable business growth and business portfolio innovation as well as the supporting fundamental technologies that include polymer science, pharmacology, technology for new drug creation, biotechnology and nanotechnology. In addition, comprehensive strength that should be reinforced through organic combinations of intellectual property, engineering, IT, and structural analysis is also needed as the driving force to materialize these technologies.
Bringing together these technologies and functions, we are targeting a goal for each of the following four key markets: Automobiles and Aircraft, Information and Electronics, Environment and Energy, and Healthcare. We have specified advanced composite material technology and green energy technology in the “Green Chemistry” domain and life science technology in the “Healthcare” domain as our new priority technology areas and will reinforce and promote research and development in these priority areas.
- Business domain: Promote technology-driven expansion in four key fields
- Core technological areas: Focus investment in specific areas in which Teijin enjoys technological advantages
In recent years, business has become more globalized, customer needs have become more diversified and more advanced, and product life cycles have become particularly shorter. Furthermore, rising nations are becoming more competitive in the current global situation with increased their capacities of technology development and production, and their capital strength that is accelerating these capacities. We should consider our position and also how to deal with rising nations. In order to deal with rising nations, we must conduct research and development in a more efficient manner and at a faster pace and to respond more promptly to the changing market environment.
Addressing this situation, the Teijin Group is introducing a pipeline style of management for products that should be developed over the mid and long term (progress management of the products) in order to clarify final products, accelerate product and technology development and reduce time-to-market. As part of this effort, we are implementing operations that are incorporated in the management decision making process. We also established technology roadmaps to support the product pipeline. These roadmaps are important guideposts and incorporate plans for R&D investments and technology acquisition in mid- and long-term R&D and technology developments. In March 2010, we revised our conventional R&D procedures in order to implement R&D and technology development more efficiently , and we improved an R&D system that will enable us to achieve the products pipeline.
At the Teijin Group, our R&D activities consist of corporate research that is being promoted by the entire organization and of research by individual business groups. These R&D activities are being supported by approximately 1,600 researchers who are assigned to nine research facilities in Japan and seven in other countries. Broad global business expansion in search of markets throughout the world is an important management theme for the Teijin Group, and to achieve this global expansion, we are forming global networks within the group for R&D and technology development, diversifying our technical based human resources, and promoting cooperative work outside of the company.
Furthermore, in order to clarify the direction for these R&D and technology development activities, we established the “Teijin Technology Advisory Council” that is composed of university professors and other experts, and we are striving to further enhance and strengthen the Teijin Group's technology roadmap to discuss various topics such as future technologies, innovation processes, and technology trends in this council. In addition, we provide our young researchers for opportunities to ask questions and seek advice from specialists on their studies, and verify and confirm the appropriateness of the way in which we establish R&D themes and the direction in which we will take to advance with those themes. Through these interactions, we are striving to develop technical related human resources who will pave the way for the future of the Teijin Group and to enhance our organizational strength to support the human resources.
For promoting open innovation in the development stage using technology both within and from outside of the group further, the Teijin Group established the Teijin Technology Innovation Center in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and the Teijin Composites Innovation Center in Gotenba City, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2008. We also established the Integrative Technology Research Institute in Hino City, Tokyo, in July 2009 in order to achieve new functions by integrating the technologies within the group and to acquire and fuse new technical seeds from outside the group. Through the establishment of these R&D centers, we are striving for early realizations of new technology to integrate the development of fundamental polymer sciences with the development of fundamental technology for Healthcare and Green Chemistry.
