nir-vana innovation network

A Japanese company established in Tokyo in 1966 who is a manufacturer of optical instruments is seeking partners in the EU to expand further into the region after a long time presence in Germany.

The company produces non-destructive testing instruments for transparent materials such as glass or plastics that measure their residual or surface stress. Their target markets are manufacturers of glass, optical lenses, plastics, and thin film etc. They have over 50 years of experience in their domestic market where they have long-term business relationships with large clients.

The key optical components that are used in their instruments are polarizers and waveplates which are made by sandwiching a film between a pair of glass plates that have been provided by well-known microscope manufactures in the world. In order to evaluate residual and surface stress that is invisible to the eye in transparent materials, their instruments quantify stress in physical values and display it on an external monitor two-dimensionally. This thanks to the specific software program operating the instruments (that has been in-house developed by the company). The instruments make use of a high luminance LED light source.

Their newly developed instruments (which are suitable for measuring stress in plastic products) are capable of evaluating stress values up to 3000nm (nano meters) of retardance. This is compared to 130nm for their previous models that already demonstrated good performance for the accurate measurement of glass products.

Another measurement device, their surface stress meter, is capable of measuring compression stress and depth of layer for glass strengthening chemically or thermally. This is also through the use of computer analysis. The company uses their original polarizers and waveplates for this measuring device. Furthermore, their recently developed Super Broadband Waveplate is a device that realizes constant linear retardance for light of any wavelength ranging from visible (VIS) to near infrared (NIR).

The Japanese company is aiming to achieve a distribution services or a commercial agency agreement with relevant partners in the EU. These partners should have a strong background in the optics and glass manufacturing market, and must be willing to help them with sales promotion and EU market entry.

In order to support the EU partners’ sales activities, the Japanese company will lend the EU partner a major demo machine and provide materials with the technological specifications written in English to help understand and promote their products efficiently. In addition, they can help with the evaluation of customers’ sample products by using their demo machines in Japan to test their performance. They are also willing to dispatch staff from Japan to assist during events such as exhibitions and other sales promotions.

Advantages & innovations

The Japanese company their instruments measure “invisible non-uniform force” in transparent materials and solve various problems associated with stress that are included in plastic moulded products or glass products. In this regard they have the following advantages: 1. Cheaper price compared to the average price of similar devices on the market and reliable measurement of their instruments thanks to their in-house developed polarizers and waveplates that have been manufactured in Japan for over 50 years. This guarantees consistent Japanese-level quality. 2. Rapid measurement through a computer interface shortens preparation time and allows for saving of data and plots in many digital formats. This also makes the instrument operation much more accessible than competing products. 3. They are able to customize products according to the customer’s needs because they cover the entire development process, from hardware and software development, manufacturing, to the sales using their in-company resources. This helps them realize cost competitiveness. 4. In addition to the measurement instruments, they can provide polarizers/waveplates and optical lenses or sensor units manufactured using their in-house resources. Small-batch production about 50sets-200sets is their strong point, which allows for them to provide better cost/performance.

Stage of development

JAPAN

Partner sought

The Japanese company is looking for distributors and commercial agents that have a strong relationship and sales experiences in the optics and glass manufacturing markets in the EU. This optics knowledge should include sectors such as geometric optics and polarizing or birefringence technologies. They wish for the partners to provide proactive sales promotion in the wider EU market or in their domestic market and for them to receive purchase orders from customers.