Zeon begins construction of a multi-product research and prototyping facility at the Kawasaki Innovation Frontier Port to accelerate scale-up from R&D to mass production

October 19, 2026 - Zeon Corporation (Zeon; head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tetsuya Toyoshima) began construction of a multi-product research and prototyping facility at the Kawasaki Innovation Frontier Port (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Division Manager: Masao Akasaka) on October 16, following a ceremony to pray for safety during construction.
Designed to accelerate scale-up from R&D to mass production for both existing and new businesses, the new facility will play a key role in Zeon’s sustainable growth.

The facility will be housed in an existing building in the Research & Development Center area of the Kawasaki Innovation Frontier Port, with operations expected to begin in January 2028.

The facility will incorporate the core technologies Zeon uses to make high-value-added products, such as its polymerization, hydrogenation, coagulation, and drying processes, and is designed to accommodate a wide range of manufacturing conditions and operating methods. This will accelerate the transition from laboratory research to medium-scale sample production, helping bring products to mass production sooner.

Zeon will leverage the facility to advance both its existing and new businesses. As a polymer design company, Zeon also positions the facility as a hub for new technology development and a springboard for deploying new processes, operational technologies, analytical technologies, and measurement technologies both inside and outside the company. In the future, the facility will support the development and prototyping of a broad array of technologies, including prototypes produced in response to external commissions.

The Kawasaki Innovation Frontier Port is the collective name for the site encompassing the adjacent Kawasaki Plant and Research & Development Center. The name symbolically emphasizes its role in pioneering in the creation of new value through the integration of innovation, research and development, and production. It also identifies the Kawasaki waterfront area as a “port” in the sense of a place that drives innovation. The new facility and the co-creative innovation facility*, which is scheduled to begin operations in December 2026, will work seamlessly together to continuously develop higher-value-added products and advanced production technologies, further strengthening their role as a technology launchpad.
*Zeon Corporation to construct at its Kawasaki City site a new co-creative innovation facility as a launchpad for disseminating technologies worldwide by leveraging its strategic location in the Tokyo metropolitan area (press release dated April 2024)
https://www.zeon.co.jp/en/news/assets/pdf/240423.pdf