Toray Profile: Overview and Philosophy
We are involved in global manufacturing, marketing and sales in three business categories covering six segments: Foundation Businesses (Fibers & Textiles, Plastics & Chemicals), Strategically Expanding Businesses
(IT-related Products, Carbon Fiber Composite Materials) and Intensively Developing and Expanding Businesses (Environment & Engineering, Life Science).
Our products are found in many everyday items, including apparel, interior products, home appliances
and electronic products, as well as in materials and parts for automobiles and aircraft, IT products and water
treatment facilities.
Today, we are active in 23 countries and regions. To successfully conduct our day-to-day operations, we
rely on the strong chemistry that we have created with our stakeholders, including Toray Group employees,
our customers and business partners, the people of the countries and regions in which we are active, our
stockholders and people working for financial institutions.
“Contributing to society through the creation of new value with innovative ideas, technologies and
products”—this is Toray Group’s corporate philosophy. We will continue to put this philosophy into practice
by creating new value in the spirit of respect for all of our stakeholders.
Corporate Philosophy
Contributing to society through the creation of new value with innovative ideas, technologies and products
Corporate Missions
For our customers
To provide new value to our customers through high-quality products and superior services
For our employees To provide our employees with opportunities for self development in a challenging environment
For our stockholders To provide our stockholders with dependable and trustworthy management
For society
To establish ties and develop mutual trust as a responsible corporate citizen
Imagine it...
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT WITH RESPECT TO FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Descriptions of predicted business results, projections and business plans contained in this annual report
are based on forecasts and assumptions regarding the future business environment made at the present
time. This annual report is not a guarantee of the Company’s future business performance.
02
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ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Contents
05
05
Advanced technologies create...
New materials make...
05
Message 1.........Reducing weight
07
Message 2.........Functional apparel
09
Message 3.........Expanding “New energy”
11
Message 4.........New advances in medical care
13
Message 5.........Securing water resources
16
To Toray Stockholders and
Investors
23
Toray’s Global Operations
28 Toray Group Segments
30
Fibers & Textiles
31
Plastics & Chemicals
32
IT-related Products
33
Carbon Fiber Composite Materials
34
Environment & Engineering
35
Life Science
36
R&D and Intellectual Property
16
42 Sustainable Management
42
52
Corporate Information
55 Financial Section
91
Investor Information and Corporate Data
28
Message
1
Reducing weight
Weight reduction has always been a priority for designers of all kinds of vehicles. Whether in automobiles,
aircraft or space rockets, less weight means lower fuel
consumption and greater range. Our continual quest
for lighter materials has led from iron to alloys of aluminum, titanium and other metals, and to plastics and
other substances.
The most promising solution to our need for lighter
materials is carbon fiber. With only one-quarter the
weight of steel, carbon fiber is 10 times stronger. This
combination of strength and lightness has resulted in
the use of carbon fiber in a growing range of aircraft
parts. Carbon fiber composite materials make up 50%
by weight of the fuselage of the Boeing 787 passenger
jet, which went into service in 2011 and has started to
cross the world’s skies.
05
Carbon fiber—a light, strong body material
Although carbon fiber is attracting renewed interest today, its industrial development began around 50 years ago. Since then, many companies have started to develop commercial applications to capture the many advantages of carbon fiber, including its lightness
and strength and the fact it never rusts. However, most of these companies have since
abandoned carbon fiber because of the many years required to recover investments, and
because of the difficulty of producing high-quality fibers reliably.
Toray believes in the future potential of carbon fiber and has worked relentlessly to create markets and develop technology. We anticipated the emergence of major new markets
n
o
i
t
c
A
based on carbon fiber applications in such fields as aerospace, sports and general industry.
We have since worked to harness the growth of these markets by building global opera-
tions based on production facilities in Japan, North America and France. With a market
share in excess of 30%, Toray is today the world’s top* manufacturer of carbon fiber.
*By sales volume, based on Toray estimates
TEEWAVE ® AR1—Concept Electric
Vehicle
Can carbon fiber composite materials revolutionize the automobile? Toray responded
to this question by unveiling the electric
TEEWAVE® AR1 concept vehicle at the 2011
Tokyo Motor Show. The TEEWAVE ® AR1
.. .in
was designed by Gordon Murray, former
chief designer for the McLaren Formula 1
team. By using carbon fiber composite materials, the body weight was reduced to just
846 kg. Toray materials were also used in
the battery, motor and other parts to create a concept vehicle that would embody
Toray’s total capabilities.
06
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Message
2
Functional apparel
Natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk and flax have
been used in apparel since ancient times. Each of these
materials has been used for different purposes, based
not only on fashion perspectives but also on specific
advantages, such as warmth, moisture resistance, the
capacity to absorb perspiration and ease of drying.
With the emergence of synthetic fibers, it became
possible to use chemistry to create fibers with the
same functions as these natural materials. The ability to supply synthetic fibers cheaply and reliably has
made a major contribution to the world of apparel.
Synthetic fibers have continued to evolve, and today
they offer increasingly diverse and sophisticated functions to enhance wearer comfort.
There are thin, light synthetic textiles that not only
conserve heat produced by the wearer’s body, but also
generate heat when worn and have excellent perspiration absorption characteristics. Products such as these
are changing our perceptions of apparel and transforming our lifestyles.
07
HEATTECH—amazing apparel
that creates its own warmth
Many people became aware of the potential
of functional apparel when they first encountered HEATTECH. Developed jointly by Toray
and UNIQLO, it offers a range of functions that
include not only heat retention, perspiration
absorption and rapid drying, but also the ability
to create heat from the wearer’s perspiration.
HEATTECH first appeared in 2003. Initially,
it was made by combining acrylic fibers, which
have excellent heat retention properties, with
rayon, which can generate warmth from water
vapor. In the following year, polyester fiber
was added to provide perspiration absorption
and rapid drying characteristics. In 2007, polyurethane fiber was added to give the material
stretchability. In that year, consumers bought
20 million items made from HEATTECH, a
combination of four different fibers. The
product has continued to evolve, and sales
volumes have risen to 50 million in 2009 and
100 million in 2011.
In 2006, Toray and UNIQLO formed a strategic partnership, under which they have since
created a total industry, including planning,
development, production and distribution at
all stages from raw materials to finished products. Under a subsequent strategic partnership
agreement, signed in 2011, the two companies aim to achieve cumulative transactions
amounting to ¥400 billion by 2015.
Under this strategic partnership, Toray and
UNIQLO have created many hit products, including not only HEATTECH, but also Silky Dry
and Ultra Light Down.
08
...in Betterment
Message
3
Expanding “New energy”
Electric power is an essential source of energy for society, industry and individuals. To ensure the reliable and
sustainable supply of electric power in the future, we
will need to make increased use of renewable energy,
including solar power, wind power and fuel cells, which
have high energy efficiency and qualify as low-emission
devices. This will require the development of revolutionary devices and materials that can be used to create a
new generation of practical and efficient power generation systems under the heading of “New energy.”
There is also renewed awareness of the importance
of storage batteries in ensuring the efficient use of
valuable electric power. Traditionally batteries were
used mainly to power electronic devices and other
small items, or in auxiliary roles, such as power for motor vehicle starter motors. In the future they will be the
prime sources of power for electric vehicles. Storage
batteries are also expected to be used increasingly to
stabilize the supply of electric power from sources that
are affected by weather conditions by storing power
when demand is low and supplying it at peak times.
09
...in Progress
Advanced materials the key to a new future for batteries
The core technologies for Toray’s research and development efforts in the field of advanced
materials are organic synthetic chemistry, polymer chemistry, biotechnology and nanotechnology. Toray has identified a number of product categories as offering opportunities for the application of its technology development capabilities in the next-generation energy technology. We
are focusing in particular on battery materials, solar cells, lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.
By 2020, the solar cell market is expected to reach ¥12 trillion. Toray supplies a range
of advanced functional materials, including polyester film for use as back sheets. The growing popularity of hybrid and electric vehicles is expected to boost the market for lithium-ion
batteries to over ¥5 trillion by 2020. Toray Tonen Specialty Separator Godo Kaisha, which
manufactures and sells battery separator film, was made a wholly owned subsidiary, and
Toray Battery Separator Film Co., Ltd. was established. Toray is also developing fuel cell materials. By offering a wide range of materials, Toray aims to become the world’s leading
integrated manufacturer of battery materials.
10
Message
4
New advances in medical care
New advances in medical technology not only help to
open up new fields and provide cures for previously incurable diseases, but also contribute to improvements
in the safety and quality of medicine, including the reduction of the burden on patients. For example, the evolution of dialyzers for use in hemodialysis is providing
improvements in the effectiveness of this treatment.
One of the new surgical techniques that have helped
to reduce the impact on patients in recent years is
catheter surgery. New treatment methods result both
from advances in medical technology and also from the
development and improvement of new products.
Medical science will continue to move forward in
directions that help to reduce the burden on patients.
11
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Message
5
Securing water resources
The Earth is sometimes described as a “water planet.”
However, 97.5% of the Earth’s water is seawater, and
freshwater resources make up only 2.5% of the total.
The amount of freshwater available for use by human
beings for daily life and industrial activities is even
smaller, at just 0.01% of the total. Freshwater is a precious resource, and yet the amount available continues
to shrink due to climate change and environmental
damage. At the same time, demand for water continues to expand because of world population growth and
economic development in emerging countries. Water
shortages have become a serious social problem in
many parts of the world. Efforts are now being made
to mitigate water shortages through water conservation, environmental preservation and other measures.
However, seawater desalination is increasingly seen as
a more effective solution in the many regions that are
naturally short of water resources. The key product in a
desalination plant is the reverse osmosis membrane.
13
...in Conception
Reverse osmosis membranes—turning seawater into drinking water
Desalination plants traditionally used evaporation to turn seawater into drinking water. Today, however, systems based on water treatment membranes are being used increasingly because of advantages that include
lower energy consumption and costs. Toray developed reverse osmosis (RO) membranes that are ideal for desalination by improving related technologies, including nanotechnology-based polymer separation membrane
technology. As a result, Toray has gained a 30%*1 share of the world market.
In addition to RO membranes, there are three other types of membranes that differ according to their water permeability and the substances that they can remove. Toray enjoys an important advantage because it develops and manufactures all types of these membranes. Because it can offer the most suitable membranes for
any application, Toray has established a substantial track record, not only in the area of seawater desalination,
but also in other fields, such as wastewater reuse.
Toray has gained an excellent reputation for water treatment membrane technology. In recent years we
have achieved considerable success in the control of microscopic structures, as evidenced by our ability to
create holes with sub-nanometer precision. We have used this technology to produce RO membranes with
the world best boron-removal performance*2 and the capability to produce large amounts of drinking water.
Toray membranes have been used in major projects, including the largest desalination plants in Africa (Algeria)
and Asia (Singapore). They are also being used increasingly in the rapidly expanding Chinese market. RO membranes already shipped by Toray produce sufficient drinking water for 98 million people around the world.
*1 Estimated by Toray on the basis of shipment volumes
*2Boron levels in drinking water are regulated because of its harmful effects when ingested, including toxic effects on the reproductive system.
14