Research and Development

Muroran Research Laboratory

Hiroshima Research Laboratory

Yokohama Research Laboratory

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Research and development activities
were almost entirely funded by theCompany during fiscal 2013.
Combined spending on research andde velopment for the Steel andEnergy Products Business and theI n d u s t r i a l M a c h i n e r y P ro d u c t s
Business amounted to ¥3,836 million(US$37 million).
As a materials and mechatronics company, we strive to innovate
products and production techniques
w h i l e a l s o e n ga g i n g i n d i v e rs etechnical alliances and joint development to deploy new offerings asquickly as possible.
Our Research and Development
Headquarters collaborates withbusiness divisions to 1) improve thecapabilities, performance, andreliability of core products; and 2)
develop offerings in new businessfields based on core and differentiated technologies.
The Research and Development Headquarters is based at ourhead office, and the Muroran, Hiroshima, and Yokohama research laboratories are located at the Muroran,Hiroshima, and Yokohama plants,
re s p e c t i v e l y. ( T h e Yo ko h a m a
Research Laboratory commenced
operations on April 1, 2014, upon theclosure of the Yokohama Research &Development Center.)

Basic Research andDevelopment Policy
W e d e v e l o p n e w p ro d u c t s a n dbusinesses by focusing on ne w
energy and energy savings, informat i o n a n d te l e co m m u n i ca t i o n s ,nanotechnology and materials, andnew production technologies, which
relate directly to existing businesses.
We have increased collaboration
between the Research and Development Headquarters and businessdivisions, and aim to cultivate
existing business by expanding andupgrading core technologies.
We engage in basic research for
future technologies and contemporary social needs and in researchingcomponent technologies for existingproducts. We will build on these
efforts to undertake R&D projects
t h a t c r ea t e n e w p r o d u c t s a n dbusinesses and pursue innovations
for existing products.
In Steel Products, we emphasize advances in energy and creatingeven more industry-leading offerings
while commercializing new areas.
The focuses in Machinery Products
are to enhance plastics machinery, IT
equipment, and other industrialmachiner y. We will allocate
significant resources to such machinery by clarifying that our commercialization framework is open tom e r g e r s a n d a cq u i s i t i o n s a n dalliances.

Research and Development

Activities by Business
Segment
Steel and Energy Products
Business
Product development centers onmaterials, notably for clad steel pipes
for natural gas transportation, large
steel castings, and forgings and highalloys for high-efficiency thermal
power generation, forged steel
products for advanced nuclear power
plants, a n d h i g h - p e r f o r m a n ce
nonferrous alloys, as well as manufacturing process technology development. We improve materials andcomponent technologies for existingproducts. In the renewables arena,

we develop material and component
technologies to create lighter andmore reliable pressure accumulatorsfor hydrogen fueling stations. We
create analytical technologies andenhance component technologies toimprove the reliability of wind power
plants.
Segment R&D spending totaled¥1,360 million (US$13 million) in fiscal
2013.

Industrial Machinery Products
Business
We develop low-cost production
technologies for high-performancemagnesium alloy injection moldingmachines. We develop dampers

complying with European specifications and improve technologies forplastic extruders and injection
molding machines. We develop
advanced micro-nano melt transcription molding machines and create
advanced compressors andequipment for film-making
machines. We also develop laser
annealing systems for thin-film
transistor liquid cr ystal display
production and other applications
for laser devices. Our work alsoe n c o m p a s s e s c h e m i c a l va p o r
deposition and plasma systems.
R&D spending in this segmentwas ¥2,476 million (US$24 million) in
fiscal 2013.

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