Koito Manufacturing Receives the 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: Michiaki Kato) has received the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry Director-General's Award at the 10th Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Awards for the "Development of the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens using Light Green Polycarbonate (PC)".

The "Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Awards" is a system that honors individuals recognized as particularly outstanding among all generations engaged in "monodzukuri" (manufacturing), including mid-career personnel who play a central role in manufacturing and production sites, highly skilled personnel who support traditional and cultural "craftsmanship," and young personnel who will carry the future. This award was established in 2005 through the collaboration of 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 marks its 10th iteration. This is the third time our company has received this award.

To contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society, our company promotes "manufacturing that is kind to people and the earth" by reducing environmental impact throughout the product life cycle.

In recent years, headlamps have tended to increase in weight due to multi-functionality and larger sizes. Therefore, to reduce weight, our company aimed to thin the headlamp lens, which has a high weight ratio among the component parts.

In thinning the lens, we developed a new material capable of high-temperature molding, "Light Green® PC," which increases resin fluidity, and we also improved mold cooling performance. By developing a manufacturing method that prevents defects such as deformation due to rapid cooling while maintaining cycle time, we realized the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens.

Because existing molding machines can be utilized for this lens, it has been deployed across five global regions and has been adopted in all vehicles that began mass production from fiscal 2022 onwards.

Our company will continue to work on further reducing environmental impact in the product life cycle and contribute to a sustainable society.

[Award Details] Award Title "Development of the world's thinnest and lightest headlamp lens using Light Green Polycarbonate"

Award Recipients (7 people) Kenta Sugiyama (Production Control Dept.) Takashi Furui (Research Laboratory) Masafumi Katayama (Production Engineering Dept.) Yuichi Ikegaya (Sagara Plant Parts Manufacturing Dept.) Hiroya Ito (Fujikawa Machine & Tool Dept.) Hideaki Yamamoto (Research Laboratory) Eiji Matsubara (Production Engineering Dept.)

Headlamp using the award-winning Light Green® PC Automotive headlamp Headlamp lens using Light Green® PC

Effects of thinning and lightening the 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) Safety performance improvement: 40% reduction in damage to the pedestrian's thigh in the event of a collision between a pedestrian and a car *Estimate for an ICE vehicle with 10 years of use and 120,000 km of mileage