In this article, Teijin looks at the suitability of its composite materials for the increasingly fuel-efficient, lightweight and environmentally friendly automotive industry.

Teijin was founded in 1918 as Japan’s first commercial rayon fibre manufacturer and has steadily maintained its strong base over the years, but also has adapted continuously to the needs of a changing world. This is still the core strength of Teijin today.

After starting out as a rayon producer, Teijin used its innovative technologies to create high-performance materials and applications ranging from carbon and aramid fibres to resins, films and high-tech composite materials. And now, looking to its next 100 years, the company intends to stay true to its corporate philosophy of enhancing people’s quality of life through quality products and services.

“Looking back at our history, we have had three major turning points,” says Jun Suzuki, president and CEO of Teijin. “We are still in the middle of the third turning point, which began around 2010 when we began transforming our business portfolio to maximise opportunities by strategically reallocating our corporate resources, including through restructuring.”

A key part of this transformation has been to turn Teijin into a leading Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry. As a result, the company has strengthened its international market position and built a solid foundation for providing 21st-century automotive solutions.

For example, in response to the Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric (CASE) movement within the industry, it is helping to develop increasingly fuel-efficient, lightweight, sustainable and environmentally friendly vehicles that move people and goods safely, comfortably and efficiently.

For decades, Teijin has been supplying high-performance materials, such as carbon fibres, aramids and resins, for advanced applications in the aerospace, industrial and automotive sectors. By expanding our presence in these fields, especially through composite materials, Teijin has opened up new markets and sales channels with a highly diversified product portfolio.

In 2017, Teijin acquired US-based Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), a leader in the field of lightweight technology for motor vehicles, thus becoming a manufacturer of sheet moulding compounds (SMC), which are glass-fibre-reinforced semi-finished plastic products.

In the following two years, Teijin added Inapal Plasticos, a leading supplier of composite materials for cars and heavy trucks based in Portugal, and Benet Automotive in the Czech Republic, a leading manufacturer of vehicle composites and components.

Teijin expanded CSP’s production facility in France with a new SMC line introduced in 2019. Consequently, CSP—already the largest SMC provider in North America—has significantly extended its reach in the European market and capability to meet local regulations.

In China, CSP Victall (Tangshan)—a joint venture between CSP and Qingdao Victall Railway—recently announced the construction of an SMC component manufacturing facility in the Wujin National Hi-Tech Industrial Zone in Jiangsu. This will be CSP Victall’s second manufacturing facility in China.

In Germany, Teijin’s fibre and products converting company Teijin Frontier has acquired J.H. Ziegler GmbH, a leading global supplier of nonwoven-materials for automotive interior and exterior applications.

Additionally, Teijin Automotive Center Europe in Wuppertal was founded in February 2020 to provide Teijin subsidiaries in Europe with a robust platform for conceptualizing, prototyping, evaluating, marketing and researching composite-material vehicle components.

Strategic acquisitions are enabling Teijin to better serve automotive customers in North America, Europe and China as well as to deepen relationships with major automobile manufacturers worldwide.

Teijin’s strategic focus has already led to visible results for end users worldwide. For example, GMC equipped a 2019 high-end pickup model with a bed made of CarbonPro, high-strength and ultra-light carbon-fibre composite. Together with CSP and GM, Teijin developed this innovative thermoplastic composite material and patented technology to significantly reduce vehicle weight while increasing durability, efficiency and functionality. The superior properties of lightweight materials from Teijin enable vehicles to achieve greater fuel efficiency for fewer CO2 emissions.

Within a short period of time, Teijin has acquired exceptionally innovative skill for developing high-quality composite materials, coupled with sophisticated know-how in the area of product design and cost-effective manufacturing processes. Teijin is now well positioned in the global automotive industry as a full-service provider of sustainable lightweight construction solutions. Moreover, the company is targeting continued expansion of its composite materials business as strategic focus of its current medium-term management plan.

And yet, despite this transition and the endless innovation that Teijin has pursued for a full century, the company’s timeless corporate philosophy remains firmly in place: enhance people’s quality of life through technology that provides real value.

www.teijin.com

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Teijin Group aramids Automotive Industry Carbon fibre

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