News Room 2006 (The former Furukawa-Sky)

• 
• 

Consolidation of Our Technical Research Centers at Fukaya Works

August 3, 2006

Furukawa Sky plans to consolidate its technical research centers located in each of its four factories by integrating them into one main center in Fukaya Works in an effort to further improve research and development capabilities. We will construct a new research building and three lab buildings, and renovate the existing research building, while gathering the research staff currently assigned to the different factories (scheduled to total about 140 members in Fiscal 2009) as well as research equipment so as to establish an effective and efficient technical research system. The capital investment will total about 800 million yen. The consolidation will begin in the latter half of Fiscal 2007 and be completed by the end of Fiscal 2008.

Currently, our technical research centers are in operation at each of Fukui, Fukaya, Nikko, and Oyama Works. Though having such a system of separate technical research centers has proven effective in quickly responding to the technical needs of each factory, it has resulted in an inefficient duplication of research activities as each center conducts its own research for products manufactured by the factory to which it belongs, and a tendency to neglect research for generic technology. Such a situation also limits the exchange of engineers, thus resulting in few opportunities for exposure to other technical fields than their own.

In order to address the problems above, we will integrate our technical research centers into one facility in Fukaya Works and thus establish technical development capabilities competitive in the world market. Following is our specific objectives:

1. By streamlining and integrating duplicated research activities, we will divert some of our research capacity to the development of next-generation products and research on generic technology, thus reinforcing our technical research capabilities.
2. By creating a system capable of conducting research for versatile technology elements, we will further promote the originality of our products and technologies.
3. By providing a system whereby engineers can communicate and consult with those in other fields, we will enable the engineers to engage in stimulating exchanges of a wide range of knowledge, thus supporting the cultivation of high-quality research engineers.
4. By integrating the investment for the facility infrastructure necessary for research activities at four technical research centers into one, we will enhance investment efficiency.
5. By consolidating the research facilities in a metropolitan area, we will ensure that the engineers have easier access to customers and industrial circles, and thus are able to gather information and produce research results more efficiently.

Even after completing the consolidation described above, however, we will maintain technical organizations in Fukui, Nikko, and Oyama Factories to provide the minimum necessary levels of technical support to their production facilities.