Research & Development

Research and Development Policies

We make it a basic policy to work continuously to develop zirconium products that meet increasingly diverse and sophisticated customers’ needs and further expand the applications of zirconium.

In order to develop and propose products that meet customers’ needs in collaboration with the Sales Division, which serves as customer relations, and in view of significantly changing external environments, we promote research and development in the following areas or applications:

Development of products that contribute to the protection of the global environment

Catalyst support materials for purifying automobile exhaust gas and harmful substances, substitute materials for harmful substances, etc.

Development of energy-related products

Materials contributing to the creation of new energy such as fuel cell materials and catalyst support materials for hydrogen production, materials for heat shielding coating, etc.

Development of products in new application

Development of brazing materials for bonding aluminum materials for electronic parts, dental materials, new applications and materials

Research and Development System

In order to efficiently proceed with the development of new products while enhancing the expertise in different functions, we promote research and development activities in three divisions: Creative Science Division, Research and Development Division and Manufacturing Technology Division.

Creative Science Division works to find new functions of zirconium compounds and develop their new applications and studies new materials from a medium- and long-perspective, and Research and Development Division conducts improvement and development of materials in existing applications and development of new applications of existing materials.

Manufacturing Technology Division designs mass production processes for products developed by Research and Development Division and then transfers control over the new products to Production Division.

Therefore, this division is also in charge of plant design and the introduction of equipment in our domestic factories in Shimane and Fukui as well as in our overseas production bases in Vietnam and China.

In addition, operations related to intellectual property rights are undertaken by Intellectual Property Division.