Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (TYO:4183) achieved a strong performance in the first half of fiscal 2015 (April–September) for EPDM (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) rubber. Contributing factors were a weak yen and low naphtha prices. Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Elastomers Co. Ltd. (SSME), Mitsui Chemicals’ joint venture for EPDM production in China that went onstream at the end of 2014, started up again in...
Bridgestone Corp. is the first company in the world to successfully commercialize a technology that identifies road conditions from a tire. The proprietary technology is called Contact Area Information Sensing (CAIS). It collects data on the tire surface that comes into contact with the road and analyzes that data to understand the road and the tire’s condition. Through real-time analysis...
Conveyor and transmission belt manufacturer Nitta Corporation is also known for developing signature products in the mechatronics field. The latest of these is the company’s newly announced Omega type M automatic tool changer. Nitta offers an extensive automatic tool changer lineup and has to date shipped a cumulative total of more than 200,000 units to customers in 28 countries. The...
Dow Chemical Japan Ltd. (President: Peter Jennings) held “Dow Japan Innovation Day Tokyo” on November 19 to showcase its latest technologies and business activities in Japan. The large turnout of 320 visitors included customers, partner companies and industry representatives. The importance that Dow places on the Japanese market was shown by the presence of about 50 personnel from parent The...
Zeon Corp., the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) held a completion ceremony at Zeon’s plant for the world’s first mass-production of carbon nanotubes using the super-growth method developed by AIST. The plant goes online in November 2015. The super-growth method offers the benefits of high-speed and...
Bridgestone Corp. has announced the recent development of the X3R Series, its seismic isolation rubber for low-rise buildings. The company has already developed a super-large seismic isolation rubber for ultra-high-rise buildings, and sells a full assortment of types, including seismic isolation rubber for low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise, and ultra-high rise. In earthquake-prone Japan, the company’s products help mitigate earthquake damage. The...
