100 Stories1996 The Asaclean™ Business in the U.S.

Asahi Kasei Asaclean America (AKAC), which markets Asaclean™, a cleaning agent for plastic molding machines, was established in 1996 under the name of Sun Plastech.

Since its launch in 1990, Asaclean™ has established itself as a pioneer in the field of cleaning (purging) agents for molding machines. Today Asaclean™ is sold in more than 70 countries and regions around the world, making it the world's top brand.

In the 1990s, Asahi Kasei had the largest market share in Japan, with annual sales of about 1.2 billion yen. Export sales in the U.S. were handled by Bellex International, a U.S. subsidiary of the chemical trading company Mihama, but Asahi Kasei acquired the business rights. The company planned to invest resources in the business, which had grown to achieve annual sales of about 200 million yen, and to expand it to 500 to 600 million yen by 2000. In 2002, the company started locally outsourced production and changed its name to Asahi Kasei Asaclean America in 2020.

Through continuous cooperation with the R & D department of Asahi Kasei in Japan, Asaclean™ has steadily gained ground by establishing itself as a product that has earned a great reputation in the industry.

One of the most significant changes occurred in 2008, when the economy collapsed due to the financial crisis . The automotive and other industries were in a state of turmoil, but Asahi Kasei did not lay off a single employee, and instead focused on growth to lead a strong recovery.

Early on, management began looking at adding product lines for the extrusion and blow molding markets to accelerate growth and explored mergers and acquisitions, but without much success.

However, not giving up, the company finally reached a turning point in 2015. The company succeeded in acquiring Novachem. This enabled the company to offer a comprehensive range of products, giving it an advantage over its competitors in both manufacturing processes and markets.

Not content to rest on its laurels, the company continued to study and research processes, products, and supply chains. One example of this was the relocation of production of EX grade, one of Asahi Kasei's top grade products, from Japan to the US. The company managed to reduce costs significantly, and the supply chain became more robust, which had a great effect on shortening lead times by several months.

Another key to profitability was pricing based on industry segments, and the pricing strategy that reflected this was also instrumental in achieving profitability targets under the tricky conditions imposed by COVID-19 in 2020.

The onslaught of COVID-19, which hit hard around the world, resulted in a three-month shutdown of most AKAC client businesses, with first-quarter sales down almost 50%. But by focusing on market resiliency, spending restraint, and maintaining reliability, the company took thorough measures and achieved 100% of its profit targets for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

AKAC overcame two unprecedented events, the 2008 housing market collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The company has been named one of Plastic News' Best Companies to Work For for seven consecutive years and was ranked number one in 2019, making it a company that not only performs well, but also embodies the notion that “a company’s strength is its people.”