By C. A. Pomeroy and J. Y. Nakagawa
Enplas Corporation, an engineering plastics company based in
the city of Kawaguchi just to the north of Tokyo (M. Yokota, Chairman; Y. Ochiai,
President), is working to become a high-tech powerhouse through concentration
on new applications of its proprietary technology.
The company is making inroads in terms of supplying optical, plastic and electronics
parts for the growing demand from audiovisual, precision machinery and semiconductor
peripherals markets, in addition to the rapidly expanding liquid crystal display
(LCD) market. For LCD backlights in particular, Enplas is seen steadily gaining
market shares.
Although the company was started in Tokyo some forty years ago, it moved to
Kawaguchi, long known for the casting industry that began with the casting of
domestic steel cannons for the Tokugawa government. Now, with the city as well
as the prefectural governments looking to stimulate high-tech industry locally,
the company has been able to "catch the wave" of local support as well.
Under the banner of "OPTPLANICS" (which combines the words "optics", "plastics"
and "electronics"), the firm has been pursuing a basic research policy focusing
on material science, CAD/CAM/CAE design and ultra-precision metal mold technology.
This push is seen benefitting from governmental moves to bring in digital resources
from outside.