Nippon Soda’s Research and Development

The keywords are “integration of knowledge,” “integration of technology,” and “globalization”

Research and Development Policy

Nippon Soda has assigned the four fields of “agrochemicals,” “pharmaceuticals,” “functional materials,” and “precise synthetics” as its four priority directive fields, and while performing regular strategic and systematic reviews in response to rapid changes in the business environment and technological progress, it will work to bolster its core businesses by strengthening development in the peripheries of its priority businesses and to rise to the challenge of creating new businesses in the fields of “agrochemicals,” “pharmaceuticals,” “environment,” and “information.” As the locations for these efforts, Nippon Soda has designated the Odawara Research Center (Odawara, Kanagawa) and Chiba Research Center (Ichihara, Chiba), as well as the production technology research centers located within the Nihongi, Takaoka, and Chiba plants.

Basic Policy

  1. Enhancing and expanding the competitiveness of distinguishing existing products and existing businesses
  2. Development of new products and businesses in those peripheral fields
  3. Creation of new businesses in priority directive fields

Technology Strategy

Enhancing and developing “Platform Technology” and “Core Technology”

  1. For Nippon Soda to exercise its strengths in the four priority directive fields, the platform technologies for which we should aim are defined as follows, and we will work to strengthen and develop the component technologies (product creation technology) and core technologies that support these platform technologies.
  2. Regarding core technologies, individual locations are working to enhance and develop the core technologies required to develop new peripheral products and to establish proprietary technologies for Nippon Soda. Special efforts are made to maintain and improve important core technologies that contribute to enhancing our competitiveness to secure technological superiority against competitors. The required core technologies are used to create new differentiations.

Odawara Research Center

Important core technologiesAgrochemical development synthesis technology, bioactivity evaluation technology, safety evaluation technology, formulation technology, analysis technology
Required core technologyPharmacokinetic evaluation technology, calculator chemical technology, fluorination technology, catalyst design technology

Chiba Research Center

“Functional polymer creation technology” to investigate new materials, “formulation technology” and “self-organization” as means of discovering proprietary capabilities, and “material and biocide evaluation technology” to promote development (from the initial properties through performance evaluation)

Production Technology Research Centers

Cellulose derivative manufacturing technology, medium-scale experimentation facilities, high-pressure, ultralow-temperature, catalytic, flow-reactor, and metal-dispersion technology, and technology to handle special materials (phosgene, hydrocyanic acid, and metallic sodium)

Research Center Introduction

Odawara Research Center

Odawara Research Center is responsible for promoting R&D centered on agrochemicals, one of the main pillars of Nippon Soda’s business. Focused on the three fields of drug synthesis research, live evaluation research, and safety research, the Center is a multidiscipline research center with the Haibara Field Research Center and the Bandai Field Research Station as test farms. Based on advanced organic synthesis technologies, we are working not only on investigation and synthesis of new chemical compounds, but are also pursuing the bioactivity and safety of chemical compounds. Due to our distinct, integrated research framework that can be driven from basic research to field tests, quick and highly efficient agrochemical development is possible. Efficient searching for new chemical compounds is also possible.
Furthermore, as an approach to a new field, we are expanding our research areas into technologies using asymmetric synthetic catalysts and reactive, and microorganisms, and cultivating the buds of new products and technologies that rapidly meet society’s needs.

Chiba Research Center

Established in 2010 in Chiba prefecture, Ichihara City, the Chiba Research Center is intended to respond quickly to technological development needs in the fields of functional materials and electrical materials, as well as research production techniques for related products efficiently. To this end, it combines the functions of basic research and manufacturing process research as well as establishes an integrated framework for carrying out everything from development of functional chemicals which use retention techniques such as organic synthesis, precise polymerization, composition, evaluation and structural analysis, to research in commercialization and streamlining improvements. We are working on the practical realization of new products in the wide ranging areas of specialty polymers, heat sensitive dye additives, control released ingredients, absorbent for resource recovery, and the biocide field. We are also promoting high storage developers which boast a high share of the global market as well as further value addition to existing products.
Going forward, through cooperation with each of our marketing, technology service and manufacturing departments, we are creating products that the market demands.

Production Technology Research Centers (located in the Nihongi, Takaoka, Chiba, and Mizushima plants)

While collaborating with the Odawara Research Center and the Chiba Research Center, the production technology research centers are working on the field of new product development and research into the development of new manufacturing technology by utilizing proprietary manufacturing technologies and the multi-purpose medium-scale experimentation facilities.