OREANDA-NEWS. August 25, 2015. Fanuc Corporation (President: Yoshiharu Inaba; hereinafter, Fanuc) and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (President and Chief Operating Officer: Mitsuyoshi Shibata; hereinafter, Furukawa Electric) have established a new company on July 31 to develop and manufacture high-power laser diode modules (hereinafter, LDM), which are a key component in industrial optical fiber lasers (hereinafter, fiber lasers).

Background

Fanuc and Furukawa Electric reached a basic agreement in April 2015 to establish a joint venture company during the first half of the year for the development and manufacture of LDMs, which are a key component for the fiber lasers that are spreading rapidly in the metal processing sector for cutting and welding applications. Since then, both companies have continued to prepare for the enterprise. Fanuc and Furukawa Electric will each contribute 50% of the capital for the joint venture company, and officers will be selected from both companies.

Content

FF Laser Corporation will combine the technological strengths of both companies—the automatic manufacturing technology of Fanuc and the high-power semiconductor laser technology of Furukawa Electric—with the goals of working toward mass production of industrial high-power LDMs and increasing LDM power.

Date of establishment of joint venture company: July 31, 2015

New company profile

Company name FF Laser Co., Ltd.
Capital stock 450,000,000 yen
Capital ratio Fanuc 50 %, Furukawa Electric 50 %
Address Main office: On the premise of Fanuc main office plant
Yamanashi prefecture, Yamanakako-mura
Opening of business April, 2016 (on schedule)
Title and name of representative Yuji Nishikawa, President
(Fanuc: Executive Officer & General Manager, Laser Laboratory FA Business Division)
Hidetoshi Tsukamoto, Vice-President
(Furukawa Electric: Manager, Telecommunications Solutions Control Division, FITEL Products Division, Semiconductor Device Department, Module Production Engineering Group)

About Furukawa Electric Group

Furukawa Electric (TSE; 5801, ISIN; JP3827200001) Group started business in 1884, when its copper-smelting facility and wire manufacturing factory was established. Since then Furukawa Electric has become pioneers in the latest technologies by addressing diverse technological issues. Furukawa Electric has released products in a number of areas, including telecommunications, electronics, automobiles, and construction, with the three types of materials it works with at their core, namely, optics, plastics, and metals. Many of these products have attained the top global market share, and all of its products have contributed to society in numerous business areas. Furukawa Electric reported consolidated revenues of JPY 867.8 billion (approximately USD 8.2B) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.