Global Trends and Strageties toward Carbon Neutrality
Introduction of the latest trends through HORIBA's unique activities and perspectives
We contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality in 2050 by pursuing "True" technologies and solutions and solving customers' problems through our measurement and analysis solutions.
Our unchanging mission is to contribute to solve social issues through analysis and measurement, and we pursue the one and only technology constantly. By combining our proprietary products that apply these technologies, high-quality services and value-added knowledge, we develop them as solutions and refine them thoroughly on the global scale. Our unique corporate culture, which produces "True" solutions that our customers can truly rely on, has made us the partner of choice for solutions to challenges for many customers, research institutions and governments.
This is a pictorial representation of HORIBA's vision of a carbon-neutral society in 2050, which is the goal of the world as a whole.
We believe that CO2 will keep circulating in the world in the future like water. Hydrogen will play an important role as a medium for this cycle. We will achieve a carbon-neutral society by balancing the circulation of water and CO2 with hydrogen and renewable energy at the core.
Our contribution to the world toward the realization of a carbon-neutral society in 2050 is to visualize this cycle in every aspect of life with its measurement technology and to provide customers with solutions.
We have a long history and achievements in refining its analysis and measurement technologies with the mission of "solving environmental problems" and "improving energy efficiency. These achievements have been carried over to today's challenge of "reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero overall," and it is this legacy that enables HORIBA to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality through the circulation of water and CO2 as envisioned by us.
For more than 70 years since the foundation, we have also played a major role in improving energy efficiency, from solving environmental problems such as air and water pollution through analysis and measurement, to improving productivity in various industrial fields, including improving fuel efficiency of automobiles and efficient operation of power plants.
For example, in 1957, Japan's first industrial gas analyzer, the GA-1, which used infrared gas analysis technology, played an active role in improving productivity in chemical plants. In an era when air pollution became a new social issue, the MEXA-1, Japan's first automobile emission gas analyzer based on infrared gas analysis technology, was launched in 1965, ahead of the U.S. regulation on CO emission concentration from automobile engines that began in 1966, and contributed to the reduction and regulation of automobile emissions in many countries. In the same way, we developed a specialized infrared gas analyzer for monitoring flue gas emissions from factories and power plants, another cause of air pollution, and for air monitoring in many countries, and by providing it together with gas sampling that incorporated our know-how, we played an important role in solving the problem of air pollution.
By working together with our customers on environmental issues in this way, our technological and engineering capabilities have been recognized globally, and we have responded to the demands for new solutions regarding the improvement of energy efficiency. We will continue to provide the best solutions that our customers and the times demand.
Japan's first motor exhaust gas measurement system MEXA-1
Japan's first industorial infrared gas analyzer GA-1
HORIBA CORPORATION established in January, 1953.
We have always been committed to being ”HONMAMON" (true and genuine with excellence) since its foundation. HONMAMON is a word of Kyoto dialect, which means more than being "genuine," indicating more than that it is not a fake; it means being first-class, touching people's hearts and inspiring them, and bringing them solid reliability. This spirit, which has been nurtured throughout the long history of Kyoto, the ancient capital where the HORIBA Group was founded, is a management philosophy common to many Kyoto-based companies that have grown by thoroughly refining their own strong points without imitation or deception, thereby achieving overwhelming superiority in their respective markets.
Always asking ourselves whether our technologies are HONMAMON and whether what we want to do really brings value to people and society, we embody our company motto, "Joy and Fun," and contribute to society as a result of our sincere attitude toward technologies and customers, without getting caught up in short-term profits or superficial perspectives. It is through this recognition that we are able to continue to function, and we aim to establish such a happy and sustainable business model.
The foundation of "HONMAMON" is provided by what we call "core technologies," our proprietary technologies that have been refined and elevated to a level that sets us apart from our competitors. Our products, which are the world's first and Japan's first products based on our core technologies, the world's only one products, and the top-level performance and quality in each market, contribute to solving problems in various industries and markets.
These core technologies began with pH meters using electrochemistry, and have expanded to include liquids, gases, and solids, while accumulating various analysis and measurement technologies using infrared rays and X-rays. In particular, spectroscopic analysis technology boasts a history of over 200 years and is still playing an active role in the world's cutting-edge research scene.
In order for products incorporating our core technologies to achieve the highest performance and maintain the highest quality, it is essential to produce sensors, detectors, and other parts in-house. The production of core parts is a significant source of know-how, and they are produced at various sites in Japan and around the world using in-house designed manufacturing equipment and facilities, and by manufacturing members who have acquired special skills and passed strict in-house tests. Our core technologies and core parts are combined with each other, such as glass electrodes used in pH meters, detectors used in gas analyzers, and gratings used in spectrophotometers. Furthermore, by customizing core parts, analysis and measurement can be tailored to the customer's needs, the site environment, and the characteristics of the measurement object.
Manufacture of glass electrodes for special pH meters by Meister
Core parts for gas analyzers
Holographic planar gratings
We also cultivate advanced skills such as "sample handling" to prepare gaseous, liquid, and solid samples in various measurement environments to be delivered to the analyzer in a condition that enables full performance, which is essential in actual work on analysis and measurement and "data handling" to accurately analyze the measured data as core technologies.
We have acquired a number of companies with world-renowned brands under our group umbrella to expand the scale of our business and strengthen our core technologies. Many of these mergers and acquisitions were the result of offers from the companies under our umbrella, and this is only because the companies that possessed our core technologies sincerely sympathized with the spirit of "Honmamon".
Below are some examples of core technology enhancements in spectral analysis.
HORIBA JOBIN YVON (now HORIBA FRANCE), which boasts a history of nearly 200 years since its foundation in 1819, has introduced numerous products in the field of optics in cooperation with famous historical scientists including Augustin Jean Fresnel (developer of the Fresnel lens) and Francois Arago. Currently, we supply optical analytical instruments such as Raman spectrometers and X-ray fluorescence analyzers to the most advanced scientific and technological fields, and have gained a high market share in specialized fields such as research and development institutions and universities in various countries, and are adopted by the most advanced research institutions around the world. We are also actively engaged in industry-academia collaborations, such as product development through joint projects with Ecole Polytechnique, the highest educational institution for science and engineering in France.
In addition, our unique gratings (diffraction gratings) have contributed to various NASA space projects and have been used at CEA and other synchrotron radiation facilities in Japan and abroad.
Our advanced material analysis technologies, including spectroscopic analysis technology, are also contributing to innovations in various materials and materials that contribute to carbon neutrality, such as batteries and catalysts.
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We apply our core technologies in the five business segments of Automotive, Process and Environmental, Medical, Semiconductor, and Scientific to provide unique analysis and measurement solutions optimized for each market.
However, the combination of core technologies optimized for each market is not enough as a driving force to create "Honmamon" solutions that can solve the diversified and segmented issues of our customers. We prepare an environment as close to the customer's site as possible, by market, in which our engineers understand the customer's issues through actual experience. In addition to this understanding, repeated trial and error in an environment close to the customer's site leads to a deepening of the solution and the creation of a "Honmamon" solution.
For example, in the "Automotive" field, we have built and operate a development facility for evaluating vehicle and engine emissions, as well as a laboratory for evaluating components such as batteries, fuel cells, and motors, to complete vehicles, just like the development facilities of our customers. This enables us to provide engineering and consulting services on behalf of our customers' research and development.
Furthermore, due to the trends of the times, these five business segments no longer have clear boundaries. For example, in order to address the issues that stand in the way of achieving carbon neutrality, we must not divide the market into automotive, environmental, and scientific segments, but must instead group them together in a new market called "energy and environment" and create new solutions.
In 2022, we have established a new organization to propose solutions that combine our core technologies in analysis and measurement, transcending the boundaries of group companies and business segments. Centered on this organization, we will create "Honmamon" solutions in the three new markets of "Energy & Environment," "Bio & Healthcare," and "Materials & Semiconductor.
One of factors that have provided our technological development is the collaboration with universities and research institutes, both in Japan and abroad, which we have strengthened, and this is also a driving force behind "HONMAMON". We will continue to proactively create new technologies and businesses with the aim of realizing open innovation and revitalizing the industry as a whole, without being limited to our own interests.
As of 2022, we have established global network of more than 50 business sites around the world, and continue to pursue development of technologies, engineering, and services that satisfy local needs so that we can provide "HONMAMON" at each of our sites. These ongoing initiatives have earned the trust of governments and prestigious academia in many countries, and have resulted in numerous partnerships and technical cooperation projects.
For more information, please refer to the "Global Initiatives" page.
The "Masao Horiba Award" was established in 2003 in honor of Masao Horiba, the founder of HORIBA, Ltd. Through this award, we sincerely hope to promote public understanding of the importance of analysis and measurement, as well as to support especially young researchers who are steadily exploring new areas in this field.
For the 2022 Masao Horiba Award, we have selected three winners and two special award winners under the theme of "Analytical and measurement technologies that contribute to the use of hydrogen for a decarbonized society".
(1) Those contributing to the realization of low-cost and low-energy hydrogen production processes. Including the conversion of hydrogen into hydrogen carriers.
(2) Those contributing to carbon neutrality such as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). Using hydrogen as a starting material.
The list of award-winning themes and recipients is here>>
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