The Fujikura Group is pursuing CSV (Creating Shared Value) as a strategy for solving social issues and contributing to the achievement of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) while also achieving profit growth for our group. CSV means providing higher value to society through a company’s core business and is defined as activities that provide economic value (earn a profit). The Fujikura Group has always engaged in business activities aimed at solving social issues in the past and we designated 2017 as the first year of CSV in the Fujikura Group as the year in which we began seriously thinking about CSV.

Partnership Agreement Concluded with Omachi City in Nagano Prefecture

Fujikura concluded a partnership agreement with the city of Omachi in Nagano Prefecture in October 2018. The goal of the agreement is to launch new services that use ICT and IoT to help improve services for city residents. We launched an initiative in equipping the community with such services while performing testing to verify the technology and the issues faced by the government. We are using open innovation to create a new business from the business of selling products.

IoT Verification Testing Aimed at Improving Snow Plow Management Services

One example of verification testing we performed jointly with IoTBASE Inc. involved an initiative aimed at solving the issue of properly evaluating the cost of snow removal work using GPS*1 devices. This initiative began in January 2019.
The city of Omachi is in an area with heavy snowfall where the average snow depth exceeds 50 cm in February. Snow removal services in the winter imposed a heavy cost burden on the city. In addition to working on automatic calculation of operating time by ascertaining the location data on snow plows in real time, this verification testing was performed for the purpose of using the information to optimize snow plow movement plotting and increasing the speed of response to customers inquiries by ascertaining the work area.
This verification testing resulted in an inexpensive method of systematization of snow removal services and confirmed that the city government and subcontractors can expect it to improve estimation work and that residents can expect improved service.
We are aiming to create a product that provides location information solutions to local governments that can be used for snow removal work and other purposes, based on the verification testing performed by Fujikura and IoTBASE Inc.

Fujikura has succeeded in mass production of rare earth high-temperature superconducting wire with the highest performance in the world, having a critical current density that exceeds 400A/mm² in a low-temperature magnetic field by 1.5 times that of conventional technology (existing Fujikura technology). We have also begun sales. Superconducting technology is used in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines in the medical field and in lifting equipment for furnaces used to grow silicon crystals in the semiconductor industry, among other uses.
Fujikura has been developing rare earth high-temperature superconducting wire for application in MRI machines since the joint development project with NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) from FY2016 to FY2018. We have already succeeded in obtaining images with a compact MRI machine using high-temperature superconducting wire and have now reached the level of a compact next-generation MRI machine that achieves critical current density of 400A/mm² in a magnetic field without using natural resources (liquid helium).
Fujikura plans to expand the high-temperature superconductor business by providing rare earth high-temperature superconducting wire and coil products that can meet the greater future growth in demand.