Special Feature

1

Fun Lab creates innovation
to realize a prosperous society
Broadcast the state-of -the-art
technology to realize
a sustainable society
http://www.furukawa.co.jp/funlab/en

In August 2016, an open laboratory named Fun Lab was established in
Yokohama Works as a “place” to promote open innovations and to create new
businesses by transmitting our technology. We are utilizing it as the platform
to further strengthen open innovations through a Collaboration with customers
and other companies, universities, public research institutions and others.

Assignment of the establishment in Yokohama is because it is Furukawa Electric
was founded and it is where the core of research and development resides.

Scenery from Takashimadai in aroundMeiji 40.

The roots of Yokohama works is where the Yamada Cable Works was established at present
Kinkocho in 1884 (Meiji 17), therefore Yokohama is one of the founding places of the Company.
And, as a part of the events commemorating the 100th anniversary, the Central Laboratory which
was located in Oimachi, was relocated to Yokohama, and where Yokohama R&D Laboratory wasopened in 1987. Thus, Yokohama is also the central core of the technology for the Company. Thefact that Fun Lab is opened in this land is the message that the Company that has continued its
contribution to the society through the relentless technological innovation beyond the century, willfurther accelerate its technological innovation and will continuously contribute to the society.

Concept of Fun Lab

COMPREHENSIONCOOPERATIONCOLLABORATION“The place” was used for communication
with people outside the Company and forknowing each other, then facilitate open
innovation in the following 3 stages.

Recognize eachother’s strength.

Propose and sharenew senses of values
utilizing each other’sstrength.

The place to jointly
expands and realizes
the shared senses ofvalues.

Feature of Fun Lab❶ On both sides of walls following the Fun Lab entrance, the history❸ The Collabor a tionof the diversification of the technologies and the products areexhibited as a genealogy of the technologies. With these
displays, we wish that visitors will deepen their understanding of
our technologies and have a sense of trust and security.
❷ Visitors can have a look at our technologies with the exhibits inarea is surrounded byfull-wall whiteboards,
and idea matchingboards. The area isdesigned to become
Collaboration area
a place where it iseasy to create new values through discussions withpeople outside the Company.
❹ The exhibition panels and the samples are displayedeach field of “superconductivity”, “nanotech” and “energy”,
centered in our core technologies in “metals”, “polymers”,“photonics” and “high frequency electronics”. Weight reduction
and fuel economy of automobiles, the latest information
communication network and the state-of-the-art technologies,
which are applicable to expansion of renewable energies andwhich contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, areexhibited.

8FURUKAWA ELECTRIC GROUP SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2018individually on portable display fixtures. While discussingin the Collaboration area, necessary panels can be
moved and available to discuss while handling thesample.

Usage status of Fun Lab- Towards realization of the sustainable society “The OneF car”, which is a small EV implementing the technology and the products of theGroup Company, was exhibited. With this exhibition, the latest technology such as themillimeter wave radar that realizes automatic driving and the CNT electric wire leading toweight saving of automobiles, are made available to watch on a dynamic exhibition.
(2017/8/2 press release)
As of the end of March 2018 which is about one and half year since its establishment, 189
groups (more than 800 people) from inside and outside the Company and 58 groups fromthe Group companies have participated and Fun Lab has been in rising popularity. Amongthe visitors are Yokohama Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center, Yokohama City
Policy Bureau, local junior high school students, etc., and it is becoming recognized in thearea. Also, media company’s people visited and reported our activities in a news release.

Future Fun Lab
We are planning to expand thecontents of discussions with visitors byincreasing exhibit items and by carefully
improving the means of displays. We
will make further promotion for new
application methods of Fun Lab, suchas increasing foreign visitors, promotingof the use of the Group companies,
holding workshops, and further open
innovation will be pushed on.

Open the Social
Cooperation
Program at theUniversity of Tokyo

Appearance of the OneF car

The local junior high school students
conducted scientificexperiments
Students in Yokohama city Seya junior highschool visited Fun Lab for their company
experience on January 30 and 31, 2018.
They experimented the magnetic levitationfrom high-temperature superconductivity, alongwith acquiring their understanding about theprinciple of the near future superconducting linear
Shinkansen. It was an opportunity for them tolearn that the superconducting technology
contributes to the realization of high energy
efficient social infrastructures such as theelectricity storage technology in the flywheel, thewind power generator.

On January 31, 2017, Professor Masayuki Nakao of the University of Tokyo Graduate
School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering visited Fun Lab andlooked at our latest technology. Based on this initiative, and as a result of discussions,
it is possible to develop diverse and innovative technologies through the integration ofthe unique technologies and know-how owned by the Company, the advanced
technologies and the broad range of discernment of the University of Tokyo. As a result
from February 2018 the Social Cooperation Program “Creation of the Next-Generation
Signal and Power Transfer Technologies” was opened at the University of Tokyo.

Innovative technology with the open innovation
In the Social Cooperation Program being opened this time, by integrating the material
research and the production technologies which have been developed over many years
in the Company with the advanced academic expertise possessed by the University ofTokyo Graduate School of Engineering the themes in the following areas are
implemented with the aim of improving quality and productivity, of creating new
business and new products and of developing advanced professional human resources.
 tilization of the lot related technologies leading to MONOZUKURI innovation.
1. U
The lot and AI are key wards in the research and development contributing quality
and productivity improvement.
2. N ew business and new products creation. (Products designing, Process designing,Control technology)
New materials research and development such as the carbon nanotube electric
wire and the thermoelectric conversion element.

Left: P resident Gonokami (The University of Tokyo)
Right: P resident Kobayashi (Furukawa Electric)

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC GROUP SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 20189