100 Stories1981 The Brave Men Who Launched the LSI Business

“We want to be the No.1 Innovator, rather than No. 1 in the world.”
Asahi Kasei's drive to succeed began with fibers for ‘clothing,’ then moved on to fertilizers to enrich ‘food,’ then to chemicals, and finally to housing and construction materials to provide comfortable ‘shelter.’ Today, Asahi Kasei has become a comprehensive manufacturer of clothing, food, and shelter, exactly what Chairman Kagayaki Miyazaki advocated for.

The company has also expanded its business to include the pharmaceutical and medical businesses, which save lives, and the electronics business, which is indispensable to modern society. Behind the scenes, Asahi Kasei's warriors have always been making breakthroughs through their untiring efforts and solidarity.

The electronics business began in 1980 with Kagayaki Miyazaki's New Year's Address.

He said, “Many of the successful businesses today are moving toward the automobile and consumer electronics industries. For example, synthetic rubber and tire cords are suited to automobiles, while polystyrene is suited to home appliances. But in the future, in addition to automobiles and home appliances, I believe that jobs relating to computers will be successful.”

Since then, Asahi Kasei has embarked on a new challenge and made a decision based on thorough research.

“We are a manufacturing company. Considering the synergies of our manufacturing activities, we are closest to semiconductors, as 60–70% of our engineers are in the physics/chemistry field.”

The company decided on a direction for entering new businesses that take advantage of its own characteristics.

Starting with custom LSIs, Asahi Kasei sought to combine the peripheral electronics technologies it has built up and head for a market with a high degree of superiority. Asahi Kasei chose the US-based AMI, the world's leading manufacturer of custom LSIs, as its joint venture partner. Asahi Kasei acquired AMI's Japanese subsidiary, AMI Japan, and renamed it Asahi Microsystems.

In 1983, the company began importing and selling LSIs for communications. At the same time, 19 young employees majoring in mechanical, electrical, and other fields were called in to commercialize the new business with their own technology.

The first thing they were required to do was to study English intensively for two months. After this study period, they were sent to AMI in the U.S. for training, which lasted from six months to two years at the longest. They trained in LSI design technology there, with the goal of commercialization in 1986.

In 1984, the Design Center was established, and the foundation for the LSI business was steadily laid. To live up to the expectations, the members who returned to Japan worked very hard and the workplace was full of vitality. The air conditioning in the building where the design center is located was turned off at night, so on hot summer days, the workers had to work overtime in just their underwear. There were no showers, so wiping oneself in the sink was a common occurrence.

In 1986, due to the recession in the U.S. semiconductor industry, Asahi Micro made Asahi Micro a wholly owned subsidiary and changed its name to Asahi Kasei Microsystems (AKM). To compensate for the decline in technological development capabilities following the dissolution of the alliance with AMI, the company broadened its scope by introducing technology from Hitachi, Ltd. and other American venture companies.

Significant results began to be seen in the 1990s. New demand for LSI technology emerged, particularly in the mobile communications and audio fields. Sales of small LSIs for cell phones, which were considered a niche market at the time, soared as there were few competing manufacturers. Existing production capacity was not enough, and the company decided to form a business alliance with Hitachi, Ltd. to build a mass-production plant.

The 19 elite members of Asahi Kasei successfully completed the difficult mission of starting a new business. The passion and work ethic that led AKM to success is carried on today.