Kurimoto and Hitachi High-Tech Commence Collaboration to Optimize Mixing Process Conditions Utilizing Mixing Data and Physical AI
Kurimoto, Ltd. and Hitachi High-Tech Corporation have started a collaboration to optimize mixing process conditions in battery manufacturing. By integrating Kurimoto's long-cultivated mixing technology with Hitachi High-Tech's AI and analysis technologies, they aim to achieve stable supply of high-quality slurry and shorten development periods, thereby contributing to improved battery performance and production efficiency.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 11, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 11, 2026 at 12:06 (34 min after Collected)
Kurimoto, Ltd. (hereinafter, Kurimoto) and Hitachi High-Tech Corporation (hereinafter, Hitachi High-Tech) have announced the commencement of a collaboration (hereinafter, this collaboration) aimed at optimizing the mixing *1 process conditions in battery manufacturing.
In this collaboration, the two companies will address the challenge that optimizing mixing process conditions in the slurry *2 manufacturing process, which significantly impacts battery performance, largely depends on advanced expertise and experience. Kurimoto, a pioneer in the mixing field, will contribute its long-accumulated mixing technology, domain knowledge, and abundant operational data. Hitachi High-Tech will provide its analysis and evaluation technologies, and Physical AI *3, which integrates AI and informatics technologies. Together, they will work on verifying the optimization of the mixing process to achieve stable supply of high-quality high-solid content *4 slurry and shorten the examination period. This initiative aims to advance and streamline high-quality slurry manufacturing processes, while also contributing to improved battery performance and enhanced yield *5 at the start of production.
■ Expected Effects from Verification in this Collaboration
- Reduction in trial production and verification man-hours
- Improved efficiency and sophistication of mixing condition examination
- Stable production of high-quality slurry
- Stabilization of quality and improvement of productivity in the mass production phase
*1 Mixing: The process of uniformly blending multiple substances to create a new substance with new properties.
*2 Slurry: A mixture of multiple battery materials such as powder and liquid, along with a solvent, which is mixed and then applied and dried on current collectors such as aluminum or copper to be used as electrodes.
*3 Physical AI: Developed and provided in collaboration with Hitachi, Ltd.
*4 High-solid content: Refers to a high proportion of non-volatile components remaining after removing volatile components such as solvents from a mixture, allowing for high performance with a small amount of coating.
*5 Yield: The ratio of good products contained in manufactured goods (Yield = Number of good products / Number of manufactured products).
Background
In recent years, the demand for secondary batteries, including lithium-ion batteries, has remained high in home appliances, smart devices, and industrial equipment, necessitating improvements in manufacturing process efficiency and quality stability. Among these, the mixing process, which uniformly blends multiple materials to produce slurry, is considered a critical step that affects the precision of electrode thickness and density, and thus battery performance. However, continuously producing uniform slurry under optimal mixing conditions requires advanced technical skills and know-how, making it a challenging process.
Kurimoto possesses advanced mixing technology and contributes to accelerating the development of manufacturing processes in the chemical industry and next-generation battery material fields. Its twin-screw continuous kneader, "KRC Kneader," allows for the adjustment of mixing intensity by combining multiple paddle shapes within the kneader according to the specific objective. By leveraging this feature, even raw materials prone to aggregation can be dispersed and homogenized, minimizing quality variations between batches in continuous production and achieving both quality improvement and productivity enhancement. However, determining the optimal paddle arrangement involves countless combinations and trade-offs. Furthermore, setting optimal mixing conditions in combination with operating conditions has been a challenge, relying heavily on advanced expertise and experience.
Hitachi High-Tech has been providing analytical and evaluation equipment to various fields such as batteries, semiconductors, and chemistry, possessing knowledge in quality control, evaluation and measurement technologies tailored to customer needs, and industry expertise. Leveraging digital technologies, it has also provided solutions *7 for materials development and manufacturing processes using Materials Informatics (MI) *6, supporting the promotion of DX for manufacturing customers as "One Hitachi."
This collaboration aims to solve the challenges of quality and production efficiency in uniform slurry manufacturing by integrating the technologies, know-how, and knowledge, and digital technologies of both companies, particularly in setting mixing conditions that previously relied on advanced expertise and experience.
*6 Materials Informatics (MI): A technology that integrates and analyzes data on material composition, structure, properties, and experimental conditions, and utilizes AI and data science to predict material properties and design optimal materials.
*7 News release announced in January 2025.
Specific Initiatives
(1) Optimization of Mixing Process Conditions Using Hitachi's Unique Generative AI Technology
By inputting publicly known knowledge from patents and academic papers, along with specific knowledge extracted from Kurimoto's kneader manuals and paddle information, into Hitachi's unique generative AI technology, the system will propose optimal kneader settings and mixing process control conditions for manufacturing ideal slurry. This approach allows for providing concrete directions based on knowledge, even when sufficient real machine trial data from the past is unavailable. The utilization of this technology aims to shorten the examination period and reduce the number of trial productions and experiments.
(2) Mixing Conditions Utilizing Process Informatics (PI) *8
In this collaboration, the two companies will address the challenge that optimizing mixing process conditions in the slurry *2 manufacturing process, which significantly impacts battery performance, largely depends on advanced expertise and experience. Kurimoto, a pioneer in the mixing field, will contribute its long-accumulated mixing technology, domain knowledge, and abundant operational data. Hitachi High-Tech will provide its analysis and evaluation technologies, and Physical AI *3, which integrates AI and informatics technologies. Together, they will work on verifying the optimization of the mixing process to achieve stable supply of high-quality high-solid content *4 slurry and shorten the examination period. This initiative aims to advance and streamline high-quality slurry manufacturing processes, while also contributing to improved battery performance and enhanced yield *5 at the start of production.
■ Expected Effects from Verification in this Collaboration
- Reduction in trial production and verification man-hours
- Improved efficiency and sophistication of mixing condition examination
- Stable production of high-quality slurry
- Stabilization of quality and improvement of productivity in the mass production phase
*1 Mixing: The process of uniformly blending multiple substances to create a new substance with new properties.
*2 Slurry: A mixture of multiple battery materials such as powder and liquid, along with a solvent, which is mixed and then applied and dried on current collectors such as aluminum or copper to be used as electrodes.
*3 Physical AI: Developed and provided in collaboration with Hitachi, Ltd.
*4 High-solid content: Refers to a high proportion of non-volatile components remaining after removing volatile components such as solvents from a mixture, allowing for high performance with a small amount of coating.
*5 Yield: The ratio of good products contained in manufactured goods (Yield = Number of good products / Number of manufactured products).
Background
In recent years, the demand for secondary batteries, including lithium-ion batteries, has remained high in home appliances, smart devices, and industrial equipment, necessitating improvements in manufacturing process efficiency and quality stability. Among these, the mixing process, which uniformly blends multiple materials to produce slurry, is considered a critical step that affects the precision of electrode thickness and density, and thus battery performance. However, continuously producing uniform slurry under optimal mixing conditions requires advanced technical skills and know-how, making it a challenging process.
Kurimoto possesses advanced mixing technology and contributes to accelerating the development of manufacturing processes in the chemical industry and next-generation battery material fields. Its twin-screw continuous kneader, "KRC Kneader," allows for the adjustment of mixing intensity by combining multiple paddle shapes within the kneader according to the specific objective. By leveraging this feature, even raw materials prone to aggregation can be dispersed and homogenized, minimizing quality variations between batches in continuous production and achieving both quality improvement and productivity enhancement. However, determining the optimal paddle arrangement involves countless combinations and trade-offs. Furthermore, setting optimal mixing conditions in combination with operating conditions has been a challenge, relying heavily on advanced expertise and experience.
Hitachi High-Tech has been providing analytical and evaluation equipment to various fields such as batteries, semiconductors, and chemistry, possessing knowledge in quality control, evaluation and measurement technologies tailored to customer needs, and industry expertise. Leveraging digital technologies, it has also provided solutions *7 for materials development and manufacturing processes using Materials Informatics (MI) *6, supporting the promotion of DX for manufacturing customers as "One Hitachi."
This collaboration aims to solve the challenges of quality and production efficiency in uniform slurry manufacturing by integrating the technologies, know-how, and knowledge, and digital technologies of both companies, particularly in setting mixing conditions that previously relied on advanced expertise and experience.
*6 Materials Informatics (MI): A technology that integrates and analyzes data on material composition, structure, properties, and experimental conditions, and utilizes AI and data science to predict material properties and design optimal materials.
*7 News release announced in January 2025.
Specific Initiatives
(1) Optimization of Mixing Process Conditions Using Hitachi's Unique Generative AI Technology
By inputting publicly known knowledge from patents and academic papers, along with specific knowledge extracted from Kurimoto's kneader manuals and paddle information, into Hitachi's unique generative AI technology, the system will propose optimal kneader settings and mixing process control conditions for manufacturing ideal slurry. This approach allows for providing concrete directions based on knowledge, even when sufficient real machine trial data from the past is unavailable. The utilization of this technology aims to shorten the examination period and reduce the number of trial productions and experiments.
(2) Mixing Conditions Utilizing Process Informatics (PI) *8