Nitto establishes "inovas," a facility that fuses R&D with Human Resource Development

On March 15th, Nitto Denko Corporation (Headquarters: Osaka; President, CEO & COO: Hideo Takasaki; hearafter, “Nitto”) established a new facility named “inovas” at its Ibaraki Plant. The facility will act as a central location for the convergence of R&D and human resource development to encourage interaction and co-creation.

In addition to R&D and human resource development functions, inovas also includes an Innovation Center which serves as a place to innovate alongside customers. This is the first such facility in the Nitto group to include all three functions. “inovas” will fuse "human" innovation (human resource development) with "technological" innovation (R&D) in an effort to create "knowledge" innovation that will surprise and delight customers, and to realize "Innovation for Customers," the Nitto Group’s brand slogan.

Background/Objective

Nitto will welcome its 100th anniversary in 2018. Since its founding, Nitto has continued to grow by modifying its portfolio of businesses. In order to continue to grow amid globalization and an ever changing social environment, Nitto will continue to change itself and create new value in the environmental (green), new energy (clean) and life sciences (fine) fields. In an effort to accomplish this goal, the Nitto group has for several years now established Innovation Centers around the world, where customers can experience Nitto technologies firsthand as they engage in co-creation together with Nitto. The Nitto Ibaraki Office is a laboratory that creates new businesses based on existing core technology. It is here that Nitto will combine human resource development with its fifth Innovation Center to create a completely new environment for human, technological, and knowledge innovation. "inovas" offers Nitto employees as well as visitors from industry, government, and academia across the world the chance to experience Nitto's history and future as they engage in dialog and strive to realize ideas with the ultimate goal of developing new value. The facility will also act as a base for developing individuals who are capable of creating new businesses that address social issues. Through a convergence of these activities, these talent developed at inovas will go on to create value that is sought by customers. The name of the facility combines the words "innovation" with "nova" (Latin for "new star"). It was named in the hope that it would result in the creation of countless "new stars" (core businesses) through innovation.

Based on its core technologies (Basic), Nitto will use inovas to strengthen its development capabilities in the environmental (green), energy (clean), and life sciences (fine) fields, and to create new value for its customers through an array of core businesses and new ideas.

About the Facility
“inovas” is composed of three areas. The Human Resource Development Zone is focused on developing individuals who will go on to act on the global stage, while the R&D Zone will be utilized in the creation of new core businesses. Finally, the Innovation Zone will serve to bring people together from inside and outside of Nitto to create innovation through synergy.

Human Resource Development Zone Searching for applications from technology alone is not enough to help customers create new value. We must also provide value based on the needs of society. Providing true value requires individuals who can observe problems after gaining an understanding of customers' processes and think independently about how best to solve these issues with Nitto technologies. The Human Resource Development Zone provides a "Tatami Room" that allows people the chance to take their shoes off and engage in deep conversation in an atmosphere conducive to discussion. It also features a variety of laboratories including the massive "Jupiter" research laboratory which is equipped with simultaneous translation booths and a video conferencing system capable of hosting international conferences. These facilities allow employees and customers to gain an awareness of social issues and serve as an environment for the autonomous development of human resources.
R&D Zone This spacious laboratory allows researchers from various fields to work together and facilitates spontaneous communication. Nitto hopes that showing concern for safety and promoting communication will lead to innovation.
Innovation Zone Communication happens when people intermingle. It is this exchange of information that generates the sparks of innovation. This unique space offers a 360° view in the hopes of attracting talent from inside and outside the company and promoting innovation. Visitors to the Innovation Zone will take ideas into workshops to create prototypes, and then engage in deep discussion while they create further value. In order to create more in-depth technologies with customers, Nitto also offers access to co-operating external labs which offer enhanced security.

Overview

Location: Ibaraki, Osaka (within Nitto Ibaraki Office)
Total floor space: Approx. 20,000 m² (4 Floors above ground)
Facility structure: Corporate R&D Main Office, Intellectual Property Division, Laboratory, Nitto Analysis Center, Innovation Center, Human Resource Development Center
Start of construction: September 2014
Open: March 15, 2016

Exterior View

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