Launch of "3D innovation Hub", a collaborative project aiming at high-level manufacturing with 3D printers, with Yashima Proceed and Harada Vehicle Design Co.

(President and CEO: Daichi Watanabe, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), Yashima Proceed Co. (President: Hisamitsu Harada, Miyoshi City, Aichi) have agreed to establish a cooperative system to further educate the public and develop the market for 3D printers as a design and manufacturing group with top-class facilities in Japan.

1.Launch of a three-company collaborative system in the manufacturing field
JMC, Yashima Proceed, and Harada Vehicle Design (hereinafter referred to as "the three collaborating companies") are proud to be a leading company in proposing products that meet customers' requirements through design, development, and production using 3D printers. In recent years, as product requirements have become more sophisticated, faster, and more diverse, we have been looking for ways to offer our customers a wide range of options in new areas, without being limited by our own or other resources. In this initiative, we launched the "3D innovation Hub," a collaborative project, to propose specific products that have become an issue in promoting awareness in Japan of 3D printer output in general, and additive manufacturing (Note) in particular. In addition, we will promote collaboration in practical aspects of new business fields, without being bound by conventional frameworks.

The total number of 3D printers owned by the three collaborating companies has reached 47, and they will be able to design and manufacture a variety of resin and metal products. Ltd. has been applying 3D printers to its cutting business, and is expanding its business field to the aviation and medical fields. Harada Rolling Stock Design Co., Ltd. has earned the trust of major automakers and heavy industry manufacturers with its superior design proposal capabilities. By leveraging their respective characteristics and functioning as a cross-sectional organization in the 3D printer industry, the three cooperating companies will build a powerful contract manufacturing system that takes advantage of each company's strengths in design, manufacturing, and quality assurance to increase opportunities to win orders, and at the same time, promote the joint development of new materials and new equipment to revitalize the 3D printer industry. We also aim to revitalize the 3D printer industry by jointly developing new materials and equipment.

Project Web site： https://3dih.jp/

About Additive Manufacturing
Laminating technology using 3D printers has been called "Rapid Prototyping" in the past. However, with recent advances in layering technology, the concept of using 3D printers to manufacture end products beyond prototyping has begun to spread, and is being replaced by the term "additive manufacturing". Additive manufacturing is a manufacturing method that refers to 3D data and builds up materials to create a shape, and in order to take advantage of its strengths, it requires a completely different design concept from the conventional "removal process" that involves cutting materials or "plasticity process" that involves deforming materials. We will provide our customers with new production technologies by utilizing our expertise in lamination technology, which we have been working on for over 20 years, and by providing support from the design stage.

2.Objectives of the collaboration - To complement each other on a practical level in the following areas
a.Design, prototyping, and production of 3D printed products in new areas
b.Development and quality assurance/analysis using industrial CT in new fields
c.Proposal of how to use 3D printer and how to create products according to the product development phase
d.Approaches to modeling with resin and other materials not found in existing markets
f.Maintenance and inspection services for 3D printers

3.Future Policy
Through technical exchanges with EOS Japan and other equipment manufacturers, as well as tie-ups with material manufacturers to explore new molding materials, the three collaborating companies will conduct high-level manufacturing and aim to expand the range of applications for 3D printer products, including proposals for adoption in the automotive and aerospace fields. (1) 3D printer products We look forward to the activities of the three collaborating companies, which have begun to go beyond the existing concept of 3D printer products.

As part of our efforts to realize the "cross-functional & proposal capabilities" set forth at the beginning of the fiscal year, we will accelerate the results of our collaborative efforts to ensure growth over the medium to long term.

4.Event Information
We will be holding a talk event where key people from the companies participating in this project will gather and passionately discuss the aims of the project and the current 3D printer industry. You can watch the event online, so please join us.

Title: Three companies are opening up the possibilities of 3D printing
Panelist: Hiroyuki Kono, Senior Managing Director, Yajishima Proceed Co.
Ryutaro Aragaki, Executive Officer, Harada Vehicle Design Co.
Daichi Watanabe, President, JMC Corporation
Date and time: October 20, 2021 (water) 15:00～16:20 (final decision)
Viewing method: Web browser viewing or ZOOM
Application：https://3dih.jp/

【Yasojima Proceed Co.,Ltd.】
Founded in Osaka in July 1937, the company is mainly engaged in the cutting and processing of parts and production jigs and tools made of high-performance plastic materials, as well as the sales of intermediate materials. With more than 30 high-end plastic molding machines, 3D scanners, and CT scanners, the company provides a full range of services from data creation to 3D printing and verification. As a specialist in plastic processing, the company aims to contribute to product development and production sites in all industries by utilizing the cutting technology it has cultivated over the years combined with the most advanced 3D technology.

Location: 3-2-11 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi
President: Yuka Ito
Established: September 12, 1949
U R L： https://www.yasojima.co.jp

【Harada Vehicle Design Co., Ltd.】
Established in 1998 for the purpose of contract development of automotive parts. We have 36 licenses of CATIA-V5, 10 licenses of Solid Works, and 3 licenses of Cabling/Wire Harness Designer for in-house development of wire harnesses, seat door functional parts, etc., and are working on the development of advanced mobility. We have 36 licenses of CATIA-V5, 10 licenses of Solid Works, and 3 licenses of cabling/wire harness designer. In 2007, we introduced EOS 3D printers, and currently have 3 plastic molding machines and 1 metal molding machine, and obtained AMQ for the first time in Japan. In 2007, the company introduced EOS 3D printers, and now has three plastic molding machines and one metal molding machine. The company is currently involved in a wide range of development projects, including mass production of aircraft seat parts, development of small EVs, automatic driving vehicles, and robots.

Location: Nakajima Building, 24 Nakajima, Miyoshi-cho, Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture
President: Hisamitsu Harada
Established: June 1, 1998
U R L： https://www.hvd.co.jp

【JMC Corporation】
In 1999, the company entered the manufacturing industry by introducing a 3D printer using the optical molding method. As the business scale of manufacturing parts using 3D printer output expanded, the company merged with SK-E Ltd. in 2006 and started a casting business using the sand casting method. With the background of digital technology cultivated through 3D printing, he proved that high quality casting can be done without depending on the number of years of experience by quantifying the casting process, which was often discussed based on the feeling of the craftsmen. This has led to a new evolution in the industry. In 2015, the company launched a CT business for non-destructive testing and measurement using industrial CT. The company also expanded into the medical field with the sale of the HEARTROID cardiac catheter simulator. The company was listed on the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2016.

Location: Sumitomo Fudosan Shin-Yokohama Building 1F, 2-5-5 Shin-Yokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
President and CEO: Daichi Watanabe
Established: December 18, 1992
U R L： https://www.jmc-rp.co.jp/