Networking

The Innovation Networking Center has established segment teams in key industrial domains: automotive, paper and packaging, architecture and construction, sports and outdoor, and electrical and electronics. Unlike our conventional business divisions, these cross-functional teams foster and promote internal human networking across organizational boundaries. By presenting our comprehensive product lineup under the unified concept of “One Kuraray,” we are able to deliver solutions that offer real value to our customers. In addition, by focusing our networking efforts on the Kuraray’s priority fields for innovation, we are driving the creation of new businesses on a company-wide scale.

At the Innovation Networking Center, we have launched digital platforms that allow users to search for Kuraray’s proprietary technologies, prototyping and testing facilities, and relevant contacts within the company. Through this platform, the Kuraray Group is able to access and share “living information” across the organization—enabling us to respond more effectively to market and customer needs that individual departments could not address on their own.

The Innovation Networking Center aims to connect internal and external resources to drive the creation of innovation. Serving as an accelerator within the Kuraray Group, the center promotes a company-wide, inclusive approach to innovation—empowering the R&D Division, business units, group companies, and our customers to take the lead in generating new value.

With the vision of “Innovations Starting from Networking,” the Marketing Department is responsible for generating innovation themes based on customer needs, while the Incubation Department supports the development of these themes. Strategy & Management Department manages the foundation that supports these activities, including digital platforms for searching Kuraray’s proprietary technologies, prototyping and testing facilities, and relevant contacts. In addition, it operates the Innovation Pipeline—a framework for appropriate and transparent resource allocation and portfolio management across projects.