Sep 11 2008
Japan is still the strongest economy in Asia. In order to investigate the opportunities for European companies in Japan, IVAM Microtechnology Network has been exploring the Japanese market systematically for several years. In early September, a German delegation visited the companies Panasonic and Omron and the Nano Clusters in Nagano and Osaka. The exchange had been organized by IVAM in cooperation with the Japanese Micromachine Center.
IVAM manager Dr. Uwe Kleinkes visiting Matsushita in Tsu, Japan
A visit of the production facilities of the two Japanese companies offered plenty opportunity to discuss the latest production technologies. In the Nagano Nano Cluster a meeting was held in the Shinshu University in Ueda. The cluster researches electronic printing and functional textiles with nanomaterials. The Creation Core Higashi Osaka (CCHO) unites more than twenty nanotechnology start-ups.
One conclusion of the mission was that high-tech made in Germany has to be noticeably better than the Japanese competition in order to be sought after. “The visit was a success, because companies from Japan are now planning to visit the German companies”, states IVAM’s managing director Dr. Uwe Kleinkes. The German delegation included representatives of the companies NanoFocus AG, 3D-Micromac AG, SUSS MicroTec AG and Plan Optik AG.
In 2009 IVAM’s will organize the Japanese-German Micro/Nano Business Forum at the Exhibition Micromachine/MEMS in Tokyo again. Companies interested in presenting their products on the forum, may contact Daniel Gralki, phone +49 (0)231 9742 7080 , e-mail [email protected].