Well, i was curious to see if he was really interested in it or not. Note that I have a working but limited knowledge of Japanese, but my wife is fluent and helped me translate this a while back.
Here it is:
Spiber Inc. Press Release
September 29, 2014
Spiber and Kojima Industries jointly agree to the construction of new buildings
The next generation biomaterial QMONOS™ (1) is developed in cooperation with Spiber Inc. and Kojima Industries Co., Ltd., which manufactures automotive goods such as interior and exterior parts. In the process of working towards mass production of QMONOS™ next-generation pilot line’s (2) introduction and development, it was decided to jointly construct a new building which has already begun. In addition, the two companies anticipate the expansion of the future of the joint venture by announcing the founding of a new company on September 26 named Xpiber Inc. (pronounced Eks-Spiber) in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.
1. Background:
Spider threads are the toughest fibers in the world. As energy issues, such as environmental problems caused by the size of human society becomes more of a problem, not only is the fiber’s performance impressive, but also that there is extremely little environmentally harmful raw material oil required to produce it. As a result,it has attracted attention as a next-generation material, so industrialization has been expected. Spiber Inc. and Kojima Industries Co., Ltd., in 2012 created a supplementary budget for the Japanese fiscal business independent administrative agency “New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization”(NEDO) as an innovative commercialization venture, mainly of spider silk fibroin (3) of which mass production of the QMONOS ™ next generation biomaterial is based.
A prototype facility for carrying out the process demonstration and application development research called the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO” was jointly constructed and began operating in November 2013. Structures such as fibroin,molecular design of the protein, protein material produced using microorganisms, fibroin-resin composites, and a prototype evaluation and application of the product at the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO” due to an innovative empirical study environment that can be maintained consistently and allow changes to the molecular design of based on the evaluation results.This facility can produce an overwhelming production scale (about 100kg a month). This new building construction was planned with the development and introduction of its next-generation pilot line.
2. The Construction of a New Building
Spiber Inc. focused on research and development using the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO” that began running in November 2013 with the financial support of the 2012 fiscal year supplementary budget business NEDO innovative commercialization venture, focusing on culture process,purification process,and the spinning process. As a result,a lot of data and experience in the next-generation product line have been accumulated as well as many research and development achievements of Spiber Inc. and Kojima Industries. This development of next-generation pilot line is adopted as a continued fiscal support project in the 2013 NEDO innovative commercialization venture, as they have already completed the basic design of the equipment and have already began its manufacture. When completed, it will be overwhelmingly compact equipment compared to the equipment that had been introduced in November 2013 at the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO”, and will be able to expand to large scale production in steps starting from small scale. The final production capacity will produce up to 20 tons annually and have a wide range of production scale. Operability will also be dramatically improved.
In early September 2014, Spiber Inc. and Kojima Industries started jointly working to construct a new building to further development and introduction of this next-generation pilot line, enhance research and development, and increase the number of employees for the business expansion. The new building being constructed will be located on land adjacent to the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO” (about 14,000 square meters) in Tsuruoka and will be more than six times the size in total floor area.
[New Building Overview]
(1) Location: 234-1 Mizukami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan, 997-0052
(2) Name: (tentative name) the second prototype Research Building
(3) Site area: about 14,000 square meters
(4) Building area: about 5,000 square meters
(5) Total floor area: about 6,600 square meters
(6) Introduced facilities: next-generation pilot line, research and development facilities, office space, etc.
(7) Construction: From early September 2014 until early 2015.
3. A New Company
In order to promote efficiency of the joint venture production of QMONOS™, Spiber Inc. and Kojima Industries founded Xpiber Inc. on September 26, 2014 in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. Xpiber Inc., Spiber Inc., and Kojima Industries are three companies that will work in the “PROTOTYPING STUDIO”,and are expected to continue to jointly expand and promote the business by utilizing their next generation pilot line.
[SUMMARY of the New Company]
Company name: Xpiber Inc.
Representative Director: Sekiyama, Kazuhide
Main Office Location: 246-2 Mizukami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan, 997-0052
Established: September 26, 2014
Capital: ¥450 million
[Origin of the Xpiber Name]
1. The protein conceals unknown and potentially infinite possibilities, represented by the letter "X"
2. The combining of the two companies can be represented by the letter "X"
(Spiber Inc. X Kojima Industries)
4. Acknowledgment
The next generation biomaterial QMONOS™ is made possible with the support of Yamagata Prefecture / Tsuruoka, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Tohoku Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, National Institute of Advanced New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Japan Science and Technology Agency, and small and medium-sized enterprises. Thank you for your support of our infrastructure, research, and development
.
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(1) QMONOS ™: Refers to the high-performance biomaterial that is made from proteins as a raw material rather than the existing petroleum-derived chemical fiber. This material has a high level of impact energy-absorbing (toughness), elasticity, and low weight. It is said that these properties are what people dream of in a material. Energy and environmental problems are a global issue and it has been desired for the next generation material to have a low environmental impact without the need for oil as a raw material.
(2)Takes advantage of the achievements and funding of the "innovative commercialization venture" by the independent Japanese administrative agency “New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization” (NEDO).
(3)Fibroin: A protein that forms a fiber. It is the main component of the thread that insects, arachnids, and silkworms make.
5. Auxiliary Information
[About Spiber Inc.]
Representative Executive Officer: Sekiyama, Kazuhide
Main Office Location: 246-2 Mizukami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan, 997-0052
Established: September 26, 2007
Capital: ¥780,330,000
Number of employees: 63 people (Including 20 Yamagata Prefecture graduates)
Homepage: http: //www.spiber.jp
[About Kojima Industries]
Representative: President Kojima, Yoichiro
Main Office Location: 3-30 Shimoichiba-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan 471-8588
Established: May 20, 1938
Capital: ¥450 million
Number of employees: 1,625 people
Homepage: http: //www.kojima-tns.co.jp
