30/09/2022
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Social Medical Corporation Seikoukai
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto, President: Norio Nakajima. Hereinafter referred to as “Murata Manufacturing”) and Social Medical Corporation Seikoukai (headquartered in Kusatsu City, Shiga, Chairperson: Hiroya Kitano. Hereinafter referred to as “Seikoukai”) have agreed on a cooperative framework to jointly develop equipment that answers the needs of medical environments (hereinafter referred to as the “Collaboration”). The cooperative system under this Collaboration shall begin on October 1.
A medical facility’s condition and its local environment contribute to determining the various needs of a medical environment, such as providing effective medical systems on top of increasing the level of care. Developing equipment suitable for such complicated medical needs necessitates the creation of a solid communication system between medical environments with their abundant knowledge that acts as the catalyst for development and the manufacturers to enable the two parties to address said problems.
| Roles Within the Collaboration |
Murata Manufacturing
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・Uncover the demands of the medical health-care world
・Address the issues that impact medical environments
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Seikoukai
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・Provide medical environments for exploring demands
・Provide rooms where specialized teams can reside
・Group doctors will participate in specialized teams
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This Collaboration emerged from continuous exchanges between human resources at each company who thoroughly understand Biodesign (developing equipment for the intended demand). Beginning on October 1, Murata Manufacturing and Seikoukai will create a joint specialized team consisting of a small number of technicians and physicians from both companies to understand the demands and analyze the issues facing real-life medical environments. The Seikoukai Group will establish a working space for this specialized team, optimize the team’s ability to understand the state of medical environments, and manage the environment so that team members can obtain meaningful insights from the participating physicians. This Collaboration will combine Murata Manufacturing’s comprehensive knowledge base cultivated from monozukuri (manufacturing) in communication and other fields with Seikoukai’s expertise to develop new equipment that will contribute to addressing issues facing medical environments.
Murata Manufacturing’s Senior Executive Vice President Hiroshi Iwatsubo said:
“To date, Murata Manufacturing has worked to develop equipment that satisfies the needs of customers in a variety of fields, from communications to automobiles and beyond. Seikoukai supports a variety of medical welfare domains such as medicine, nursing, and rehabilitation and this represents a vitally important opportunity to work with their specialists and their expertise that covers a wide variety of fields. By combining Seikoukai’s specialized knowledge with Murata Manufacturing’s problem-solving capabilities to address the social issues facing this field, this Collaboration will lead to the creation of equipment needed by all members of society.”
Seikoukai’s Chairperson Hiroya Kitano noted:
“Understanding a patient’s problem, exploring potential requirements, and considering how to address said problem are essential considerations for health-care professionals. This initiative aims to develop medical equipment, but we decided to collaborate with Murata Manufacturing with the understanding that the goals of the Collaboration align with the above approach. Our employees possess a wide range of knowledge, but with this Collaboration, physicians who learned Biodesign by actually developing medical equipment in India will form the core of the team. A multi-talented group of physicians and nurses will work alongside this team on-site together with employees from Murata Manufacturing. I am very excited to see our organization revitalized through this diverse team working in our wide range of fields, from acute phase to in-home nursing care.”
Biodesign
In 2001, a Stanford team lead by Dr. Paul Yock founded this field as a human resource development program that drew upon design concepts and innovation in medical equipment. The program focuses on approaches that achieve innovation through the development of problem-solving methods by first uncovering demands in the medical world while simultaneously verifying concepts for commercialization from the initial stages onward. Over 144 candidates from around the world apply for this year-long fellowship, with eight eventually being selected. To date, this program has resulted in the founding of 53 companies and over 400 patent applications, with the associated devices providing assistance to over 7.6 million patients.
About Murata Manufacturing
Headquarters:
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10-1, Higashikotari 1-chome, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto
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Established:
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1950
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Capital:
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69.4 billion JPY
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Business description:
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Research, development, manufacturing, and sale of functional ceramic-based electronic devices
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Representatives:
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Tsuneo Murata, Chairman of the Board; Norio Nakajima, President
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About Seikoukai
Headquarters:
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1660 Yabase, Kusatsu, Shiga
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Established:
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1980
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Group facilities:
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Omi Medical Center, Omi Fureai Hospital, Minamikusatsu Health Examination Center, Kusatsu Medical Hospital, Long-term Care Health Facility Kusatsu Care Center, Dedicated In-home Care Support Office Fureai, Dedicated In-home Care Support Office Kirara、Kusatsu Care Center Attendant Care Station, Kusatsu Attendant Care Station, Kusatsu City: Kusatsu Regional Comprehensive Support Center, Ritto City: Ritto Western Regional Comprehensive Support Center, Kusatsu In-Home Nursing Collaboration Center, Kusatsu Nursing School
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Representative:
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Hiroya Kitano
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Murata in Brief
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of ceramic-based passive electronic components & solutions, communication modules and power supply modules. Murata is committed to the development of advanced electronic materials and leading edge, multi-functional, high-density modules. The company has employees and manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
For more information, visit Murata's website