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Forewold
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II, Summary of Research Report
Research Methods
(1)Research by Questionnaire
[Research Items]
- Outsourcing amounts for development works (of the R&D expenses and of the equipment investment costs), current situation of outsourcing, future needs for outsourcing
[Research Targets]
- Large companies (600 listed companies): Randomly picked from the listed mfg. companies in the gQuarterly Corporate Report (Kaisha Shikihou) 2003 Volume 4h issued by Toyo Keizai Inc.
- Research Centers and Laboratories (300 companies): Randomly picked from the gList (Directory) of Research Centers and Testing Laboratories in Japan 2002-2003 Editionh (issued by Maruzen)
- Venture companies (300 companies): Randomly picked from the companies nationwide certified under the New Company Creation Law
- Universities (50): Top national, public and private universities with medical schools, or agriculture, science or engineering department, in order of size (enrollment)
- Public Research Centers and Laboratories (10): Top organizations in order of size (R&D budget) selected from the gList of Research Centers and Testing Laboratories in Japan 2002-2003 Editionh (issued by Maruzen)
- Distribution companies of consumer goods (50): Randomly picked from
department stores and nationwide chain stores
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(2)Research by phone calls to other regions and clients
[Research Items]
- Current situation of outsourcing and prototype orders and future needs
- Related public policies, fields of key interests and corporate accumulation of prototyping expertise
[Research Targets]
< Cases in other regions >
- Prototyping groups in other regions (adhoc Kobe and Rodan 21)
- Other regions that have already entered into the prototyping industry (Ota ward, Tokyo, and Techno Foundation of Nagano Prefecture)
< Clients >
- University liaison organizations (Ritsumeikan University and Kyoto Institute of Technology)
- Large mfg. companies'research centers (Rohm Co., Ltd., etc.)
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Summary of Research Results
(1)Estimation of the market size for the prototyping industry
[Size of "Outsourcing" by Large Companies]
- Results of research by questionnaire (of the listed mfg.companies)
* Outsourcing ratio in R&D expense: Approx. 7.6%
* Outsourcing ratio in equipment investment: Approx. 8.5%
- Estimated outsourcing costs by large mfg. companies
* Outsourcing costs in R&D expense: Approx. \690 billion
* Outsourcing costs in equipment investment: Approx. \540 billion
* About \1,220 billion in total
[Size of "Outsourcing" by Universities]
- Results of research by questionnaire (of large universities with science-related departments)
* Outsourcing ratio in outside-funded research expense: Approx. 5.1%
* Outsourcing costs by the top 50 universities by the student count: Approx. \16.9 billion
- Estimated outsourcing costs by universities and associated research laboratories in Japan:
* Approximately \23 billion in total
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(2)Prediction of the promising fields for the prototyping industry
[Current situation of outsourcing]
- Eighty percent of large companies, 90% of research centers and 50% of universities are actually
outsourcing.
- Large companies are outsourcing the peripheral works of the core technologies, such as testing, inspection and analysis. Research centers are outsourcing analysis; venture companies are sending out testing and
prototyping; universities are sending out inspection and analysis.
[Promising fields for outsourcing]
- 40% of large companies, and the majority of research centers and venture companies are willing to increase outsourcing.
- Overall, there is a high possibility in increased outsourcing of testing, inspection, analysis, measurement, etc.
- Large companies hope to take advantage of highly specialized outside resources in the field of
development: Particularly nano-tech, micro-processing, material development, environmental technologies, etc.
- Venture companies are mainly interested in having prototypes made for the development of processes and devices.
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(3)Sorting of the conditions to promote orders to make prototypes
[Methods to select and decide on the outsourcing contractors]
- Eighty percent of large companies, 90% of research centers and 50% of universities are actually
outsourcing.
- Prior contractors are given preference, but in some cases public organizations have used new contractors.
- Large companies focus on cost and speed, and venture companies on R&D and technological strengths.
- Neither group considers the nearness of the contractor important. Therefore, it is possible to service a wide area.
- Lack of information on the technical skills of new outside contractors is an obstruction to matching with them. Especially, the outside contractors to R&D clients must have strong skills in technology and
presentation.
- It is necessary to propose new devices and technologies that would reduce costs and improve productivity on the production line.
[Trustworthiness]
- A track record is important. Confidentiality duty, etc., must be cleared when signing a contract.
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(4)Possibilities to promote the prototyping industry in other regions
[East Osaka and Kobe]
- While expectation of public-fund support runs high, in reality
the private sector is running the show.
- Rather than being just subcontractors "taking orders jointly," they want to be players in the field of joint development, including making prototypes, by shifting their dealing format to the alliance type.
- "Companies that make prototypes make money."(Words of experience)
[Shimo Suwa (Nagano Prefecture)]
- Consortium of medium-size companies. Their expectation of publicly funded support is low.
- They focus on their common strength in micro-processing, and target new customers in the R&D field. Prototyping is a conversation piece.
[Ota Ward (Tokyo)]
- An area with many small factories in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Administrative policies are mainly for supporting the back side.
- The support is not limited to prototyping.
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Suggestions for promotion of the prototyping industry (Summary of research
results)
(1)Direction of the engineering for support of development --> Support with R&D capabilities
(2)Fields in which to strengthen the engineering for support of development
* Prototype mfg. * new fields:cutting-edge technologies * global market
(3)Sales promotion of the engineering for support of development
* Full service with R&D capabilities * technical presentation * provision of composite technologies
(4)Direction of the activities to promote the engineering for support of development
* Formation of a corporate network, technology development, industrial marketing, origination of
information, enhancement of technical evaluation skills and trustworthiness.
(5)To make Kyoto the hometown of the prototyping industry
* Build up a platform and implement PR activities (in order to publicize the local companies and
technologies to the world).
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