Establishment of new R&D facilities – launch of a global research setup

Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. hereby informs all concerned that it has decided to establish new research and development facilities in Japan and Singapore toward the construction of a globalized setup for research and development.

At present, the Fuji Oil Group has two research and development centers in Japan (in Izumisano-shi and Tsukubamirai-shi). It has decided to completely rebuild the one inside the head office (in Izumisano-shi) and construct a new research and development facility tentatively named “Fuji Technocenter.” This facility will have the role of leading research and technology development by the Fuji Oil Group as a whole, worldwide. It will be positioned as the core site for technical innovation in the Fuji Oil Group in its constant creation of new businesses, technologies, and products. For the purpose of distinctive technology development and acceleration of its pace, the facility will be equipped not only with research and development divisions but also divisions for engineering and analysis. It will additionally have stronger capabilities for collection and dissemination of information on technologies and products around the world. It is to serve as a site for stimulation of innovation through free-wheeling exchange of opinion by researchers in Fuji Oil Group companies inside and outside Japan, to breed new ideas and lively discussions. To this end, it will include joint research rooms for the use of researchers from all companies in the Fuji Oil Group. Through this new facility, Fuji Oil intends to promote the global extension of research and development while speeding up its development of new products and technologies.

In addition, Fuji Oil is going to establish the Asia Research and Development Center, its first research and development center outside Japan, in Singapore in March 2015. Bringing together functions for development of products, applications, and markets in Asia, the Center will stay closely attuned to markets and customers in the region, and pursue research and development aimed at the creation of products addressing their needs. Meanwhile, in coordination with the organizations in Japan, it will engage in mutual technical interchange and help to nurture the growth of the local employees, in order to expedite the development of products from local perspectives. For the future, Fuji Oil is determined to expand its business not just in Southeast Asia, but in the greater Asian region, inclusive of India, the Middle East, and even the African market.

When formulating its middle term business plan, the Fuji Oil Group articulated a target vision for 2030 and determined where it had to be by 2020 in order to attain this vision. The establishment of Fuji Technocenter (tentative name), its new research and development facility, lays the foundation for its construction of a new research and development setup that looks ahead to the future over the medium and long terms. Similarly, the Asia Research and Development Center will be its first research and development facility outside Japan. With these developments, the Fuji Oil Group is going to promote and accelerate global management and technological management, which are agenda in the basic policies it set down in Renaissance Fuji 2016, its middle term business plan.

【Profile of Fuji Technocenter (tentative name)】

【Profile of the Asia Research and Development Center】