Teijin has announced today that it has started operating its pilot plant for the fully integrated production of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) components at its Matsuyama Factory in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Plans to build the pilot plant were announced exactly a year ago and capital expenditure is said to have been over two billion yen.

The plant features Teijin’s proprietary mass-production technology for CFRTP components, which is said to significantly reduce cycle times required for moulding composite products to under a minute, enabling rapid production of prototypes and performance evaluation tests, including complex-shaped moulded products and large components.

Teijin’s mass-production technology facilitates the integrated manufacturing process from carbon fibre to moulded composite products within one minute, said to be the ideal cycle time required by car manufacturers for vehicle mass production.

CFRTP components, which have the potential to realize unprecedented weight reductions, are expected to find wide-ranging applications for cars and other industrial uses. They are also highly recyclable, since the used thermoplastic resins can be reheated and remoulded into new shapes.

The technology, which promises to realize revolutionary weight-reduction, is expected to find a wide range of applications in addition to automobiles, where certain levels of structural strength are required.

To introduce this cutting-edge technology to car makers, Teijin developed an electric-vehicle concept car in 2011 featuring a body structure made entirely of CFRTP components and weighing only 47 kilograms, or roughly one fifth the weight of a conventional automobile body structure.

With its new pilot plant, Teijin aims to accelerate collaboration with automotive makers worldwide, as well as create markets for other applications. Continued developments are being spearheaded through a collaborative effort involving the Japan-based Teijin Composites Innovation Center, Teijin’s R&D hub for carbon fibre composites business, and Michigan, USA-based Teijin Composites Application Center, a technical centre opened in April 2012.

Teijin, as a global leader in the fields of carbon fibres and composites, is aiming at annual sales of 150 to 200 billion yen (USD 1.8 to 2.4 billion) for carbon fibre composite products by around 2020.