R&D Policy and System

We will respond to social needs in the areas of health; safety and security; convenience and comfort; and the environment by using a wide variety of technologies and a wide range of product groups. In this effort, we will utilize our strengths, which include our mechanisms for utilizing our expertise through artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). We anticipate increasing demand for more advanced next-generation electronic materials arising from the extension of life expectancy, the accompanying growing interest in quality-of-life issues, and the ongoing digital transformation and adoption of IoT. Consequently, we intend to create value in business sectors that can benefit from our strengths in the areas of medicine, healthcare, and smart technologies.

We will address societal issues and customer requirements, identify potential needs, and provide advanced technologies combined with our knowledge of various industries to solve problems. Even if an issue is too difficult to be solved by our company alone, we will not give up easily; instead, we will work with the will to solve the problem even if it is solely for the benefit of the customer, and even if it requires using the products, technologies, and expertise of another company. Our R&D always starts with the identification of the future needs of our customers and society at large. By growing together and solving the problems of our customers and all of society, we are transitioning into a company that identifies and tackles the most difficult challenges.

Daicel describes its process of redefining the essential functions of a product to open up new markets and create new businesses as a “free translation of functions.” One example is the air bag inflator for automobiles. Its essential function can be defined as a system for safely, securely, and instantly generating a single burst of optimum energy (One-Time Energy). One product inspired by this free translation is Actranza® lab, a needle-free drug distribution device that does not require needles. We also applied the essential functions of One-Time Energy and developed the Pyro-fuse, which is mounted on electric vehicles and shuts down power in an emergency. Free translation of functions will enable us to discover new market needs we can meet with our technology and to promote new business creation based on the Daicel Group's lineage.

Looking ahead to our global future, we are proactively developing intellectual property initiatives to strengthen our business. We actively employ our intellectual property in order to maintain our market superiority while acquiring core technologies that help promote our business development. Since 2019, we have been implementing an IP landscape that enables us to identify new business themes and establish new business models. We have achieved this through analysis and visualization of varied sources of information from a bird's-eye view - such as intellectual property information and market information - while also analyzing and predicting key processes and technologies.

In order to create value that contributes to greater affluence, we are emphasizing the functional independence of research and development in order to both expand our research findings and strengthen commercialization. In order to contribute to the emergence of a society committed to recycling, we will expand the scope of our research by developing innovations from the customer's perspective, focusing our development targets, and identifying those likely to achieve commercialization. In addition, we will maximize our proven strengths in developing new businesses through our proactive approach to intellectual property initiatives.

We are rapidly creating new businesses and strengthening existing businesses by fusing our R&D, which is responsible for functional design, material design, and evaluation, to our production technology and engineering, which are responsible for process design, equipment design, and simulation. We have adopted an unassigned office approach that allow engineers engaged in research and development, production technology, engineering, environment, and safety, as well as those in charge of planning, marketing, and intellectual property, to work with the flexibility needed in specific situations. Moreover, our laboratories are divided by function rather than by department, which tends to accelerate research and development. Moreover, we maintain a clean room and an open laboratory equipped with a multifunctional laboratory capable of handling synthesis, distillation, analysis, evaluation, and other tasks. We undertake research and development together with customers both inside and outside Japan.

In addition to conducting research intended to improve functions, we conduct functional evaluations and pilot developments for industrialization at research facilities and pilot plants provided in the factory.