Bridgestone Opens New Research and Development Center for Chemical and Industrial Products
Aims to Increase Market and Customer Responsiveness by Strengthening Development Capabilities
Tokyo (May 22, 2008) - On May 20, 2008, Bridgestone Corporation officially opened its Research and Development Center for chemical and industrial products, which was newly built on the grounds of the Yokohama Plant in Japan.
The Yokohama Plant manufactures a wide variety of products such as industrial products from rubber as their raw material, chemical products from urethane and other applied industrial products that make use of polymeric technology, including fiber reinforced plastics (FRP). With full range of research and development facilities including a technical center for chemical and industrial products, the Yokohama Plant plays a guiding role in terms of the manufacture of the company's chemical and industrial products business. The Research and Development Center for chemical and industrial products aims to enhance testing of those products as well as performance evaluation capabilities, while increasing speed of product development and ensuring quicker response to expanding user requirements. This new facility will focus on an experimental performance tests in the development of chemical and industrial products.
In addition, this new facility has a unique construction aligned with Multi-rubber bearings, one of Bridgestone products, so that it can withstand an earthquake even in intensity 7 on the Japanese seismic scale. The southern face of the building has been designed with photovoltaic power generation panels that utilize Bridgestone's EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) film as the adhesive film for the solar modules*. It is possible to generate a maximum of 64kw of power as a result. Amid rising concerns over global warming caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, photovoltaic power generation is becoming increasingly important from the perspective of environmental protection. This is because it is a clean energy system that does not release any waste emissions during the power generation process.
The goal of the Bridgestone Group is to be the world's undisputed No.1 tire and rubber company in both name and reality. Bridgestone Group also aims for the higher level in diversified products business, which accounts for around 20% of consolidated sales, primarily by strengthening this business through sales expansion of high-value-added products such as high-performance film.
The Yokohama Plant manufactures a wide variety of products such as industrial products from rubber as their raw material, chemical products from urethane and other applied industrial products that make use of polymeric technology, including fiber reinforced plastics (FRP). With full range of research and development facilities including a technical center for chemical and industrial products, the Yokohama Plant plays a guiding role in terms of the manufacture of the company's chemical and industrial products business. The Research and Development Center for chemical and industrial products aims to enhance testing of those products as well as performance evaluation capabilities, while increasing speed of product development and ensuring quicker response to expanding user requirements. This new facility will focus on an experimental performance tests in the development of chemical and industrial products.
In addition, this new facility has a unique construction aligned with Multi-rubber bearings, one of Bridgestone products, so that it can withstand an earthquake even in intensity 7 on the Japanese seismic scale. The southern face of the building has been designed with photovoltaic power generation panels that utilize Bridgestone's EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) film as the adhesive film for the solar modules*. It is possible to generate a maximum of 64kw of power as a result. Amid rising concerns over global warming caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, photovoltaic power generation is becoming increasingly important from the perspective of environmental protection. This is because it is a clean energy system that does not release any waste emissions during the power generation process.
The goal of the Bridgestone Group is to be the world's undisputed No.1 tire and rubber company in both name and reality. Bridgestone Group also aims for the higher level in diversified products business, which accounts for around 20% of consolidated sales, primarily by strengthening this business through sales expansion of high-value-added products such as high-performance film.
| Note: | EVA film is used as an adhesive to fasten the silicon cell (which converts the sun's rays to electricity) to the glass and surface protection sheet (back sheet) to protect it. |
