Koito Manufacturing Receives Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry Director-General's Award at the 10th Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Awards for Developing the World's Thinnest and Lightest Headlamp Lens

Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, President: Mitsuaki Kato) has received the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry Director-General's Award at the 10th Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award for the "development of the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens using Light Green Polycarbonate (PC).

The "Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award" is a system to recognize outstanding individuals from various generations involved in "monodzukuri" (manufacturing), including mid-career professionals who are central to manufacturing and production sites, skilled veterans who support traditional and cultural "waza" (craftsmanship), and young people who will lead the future. This award was established in 2005 in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and this is the 10th time it has been held. This is the third time our company has received this award.

Our company is promoting "monozukuri that is friendly to people and the planet," which reduces the environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle, to contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society.

In recent years, headlamps have tended to increase in weight due to their multi-functionality and larger size. Therefore, to reduce weight, we have made the headlamp lens, which has a high weight ratio among the component parts, thinner.

To make the lens thinner, we developed a new material, "Light Green® PC," that can be molded at high temperatures. By increasing the fluidity of the resin, improving the mold cooling performance, and developing a manufacturing method that prevents defects such as deformation due to rapid cooling while maintaining the cycle time, we have achieved the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens.

This lens can be used with existing molding machines, so it has been deployed to our five global locations and has been adopted in all vehicles that have started mass production since fiscal 2022.

Our company will continue to work on further reducing the environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle and contribute to a sustainable society.

[Award Details]

Award Title

"Development of the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens using Light Green Polycarbonate"

Winners (7 people)

Kenta Sugiyama (Production Management Department)

Takashi Furui (Research Laboratory)

Masashi Katayama (Production Engineering Department)

Yuichi Ikeya (Sagara Plant Parts Manufacturing Department)

Hiroya Ito (Fujikawa Machinery Department)

Hideaki Yamamoto (Research Laboratory)

Eiji Matsubara (Production Engineering Department)

Headlamp using the award-winning Light Green® PC

Automotive Headlamp

Headlamp lens using Light Green® PC

Effects of thinner and lighter lens

・ Mass: 20% reduction compared to conventional products

・ CO2 reduction effect*: 3.0 kg per vehicle

48,000 tons (estimated for vehicles adopted in 2023)

・ Improved safety performance: Reduces damage to the pedestrian's thigh in a collision between a pedestrian and a car...