--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Inventions Built for a New Age image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9da9a871f6e7575/6a4b5264d4269e13769cd56a/BE78222672614E789D2FCDC4593910D8.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Inventions Built for a New Age  **Superior Welds** Dengensha Toa Co., Ltd. “One major theme in the welding industry is verifying whether a weld is of high quality —it can be very difficult to determine this just by looking from the outside. By collecting visual and tactile data of successful welds and feeding it to AI, we can identify the best conditions and allow a machine to quickly determine successes and failures.” – President Kenji Yamashita **Silicone Solutions** Nissin Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd. “We are committed to fostering environmental expertise within the company. We receive a number of inquiries related to sustainable products, particularly those that contribute to recycling and upcycling. Silicone, while versatile and durable, often adheres stubbornly to materials, leaving behind stains that are difficult to eliminate. Our silicone dissolver effectively dissolves silicone polymers in liquid and acid, making their removal possible.” – Chairman and President, respectively, Haruo and Yuichiro Kato **Smart Ramen Machines** NEC Magnus Communications, Ltd. “I think the role of AI for a manufacturer like us comes in several forms. One is serving and providing convenience for people, for example, by embedding AI in ticket vending machines to improve service. Consider a vending machine with a camera in a ramen shop. AI can detect the gender, size and age of the customer, and then provide recommendations based on accumulated data.” – President Yasushi Tanaka **Ultimate Flood Control** Ishigaki Company “Due to climate change, heavy rain has become a significant issue, and we are providing water exhaust systems to help prevent flooding. Our equipment plays a crucial role in removing water from city water canals, which is vital for disaster prevention. While we initially saw this as a domestic business, the demand for flood prevention equipment has risen in Southeast Asia, where the region is prone to flooding.” – President Makoto Ishigaki **Building Niche Strengths** Takenaka Seisakusho Co., Ltd. “We built our own system to avoid risks and red flags, and target areas with fewer competitors. In the electronics division, we have strong expertise in the advanced and complex field of power electronics. Few SMEs have the capability to handle design, development and quality control, meaning there is much potential here for our company.” – President Saeko Takenaka **Recycling Revolution** Mitsubishi Materials Hardmetal “The Mitsubishi Materials Group, to which we belong, is one of the world's leading suppliers of cemented carbide, and we have been actively engaged in its recycling for more than 20 years. We thought it would be difficult to achieve additive manufacturing because the melting point of cemented carbide, the main raw material in our products, is extremely high at 1,500°C or more. As a result of our active development, we may soon achieve additive manufacturing of cemented carbide. When this is successful, we believe that we can accelerate the reduction of its consumption.” – President Katsu Yamamoto **Advanced Medical Maneuvers** MANI Inc. “As the global standard for medical devices continues to advance and the world’s population grows, demand for our products is steadily increasing. Within the dental field, one of our specialties is root canal treatments, also known as endodontics. Patients in these cases typically have advanced symptoms, so high-level, technical treatment is required. At the moment, we provide devices for the first two steps of root canal treatment, and eventually, our business will provide devices for other steps as well.” – President Masaya Watanabe **Powered by Carbon** Sunarrow Limited “We’re working on products using carbon nanotubes, which we blend into rubber and resin. One of the key applications is in battery-related components, particularly for the automotive industry. The potential goes beyond just cars, with drones and smartphones also key markets as battery technology evolves.” – President Yuji Tokimune **Innovative Inks** T&K TOKA “In our products, UV-curing inks are being pushed to be more and more efficient, which contributes to lower energy consumption in curing. Japanese consumers generally have a strong feel for good aesthetics, and this can also be said for consumer food packaging, especially in convenience stores. For example, as food items may be put in microwaves at high temperatures after storage in a refrigerator, we have to ensure that they can remain stable in these kinds of conditions.” – President and CEO Nobumasa Ishiai Inventions Built for a New Age ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/inventions-built-for-a-new-age/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/inventions-built-for-a-new-age/"},"headline":"Inventions Built for a New Age","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:28:49.299Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T07:28:01.410Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/inventions-built-for-a-new-age/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/global-kigyo/inventions-built-for-a-new-age/","name":"Inventions Built for a New Age"}}]}] ```