100 Stories1967 Hebel ALC

The Building Materials Division has grown into one of Asahi Kasei's supporting businesses. Its start-up began with a loss of nearly 3 billion yen. In 1959, the decision was made to enter the business as one of the Three New Projects in building materials. In the 1960s, the company introduced autoclaved lightweight concrete (ALC) technology from the Soviet Union and began production of lithium silicate in 1963.

The following year, however, it was decided that lithium silicate was not suitable for the Japanese climate. President Kagayaki Miyazaki said, “The accumulated deficit amounted to nearly 3 billion yen. Finally, the company had to give up the idea of continuing in the lithium silicate business. Even though it was an unfamiliar field, Asahi Kasei experience firsthand how important it was to do research beforehand.

Although the Soviet method was completely abandoned, Asahi Kasei continued to develop its own unique technology suited to the Japanese climate. The major challenges remained in the handling of the blocks before and after cutting.

At that time, a representative in West Germany informed Asahi Kasei of Hebel, an ALC manufacturer, and several staff members, including Yoshihisa Kuroda, former head of the Lithium Silicate Development Department, immediately traveled to Germany to visit the plant. Those who went to visit the plant did not hide their surprise, making remarks such as, “When I saw the cutter, I knew at once that we had to introduce this technology,” “I wonder how this technology had survived without being licensed to other Japanese companies,” “I was astonished to see the Hebel cutter and gripper. I wonder how many years it will take before our Asahi cutter will be like this.”

At that time, other Japanese companies were also interested in introducing Hebel's technology, and Asahi Kasei was ready to negotiate immediately. Hebel gave the one other company, which had been negotiating earlier, three days before signing the contract with Asahi Kasei, but it did not respond, and Asahi Kasei was awarded the exclusive contract.

Production of Hebel began in Matsudo in 1967. The subsequent success of the company was more than enough to prove the correctness of the decision made by the employees at this time. When the contract was signed, the team shared their strong commitment to the business, with Miyazaki stating, “I still remember when Kuroda signed the contract. He was in tears, saying, "Now we can continue our work.”