Nitto Denko - History

History

• 1918 Nitto Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. forms in Ohsaki, Tokyo, to produce electrical insulating materials in Japan.
• 1924 Introduces electrical insulating varnishes.
• 1941 Ibaraki Plant begins operation.
• 1945 Head Office in Ohsaki, Tokyo, destroyed by air raids.
• 1946
  • Head Office is relocated to Ibaraki, Osaka ;
  • Begins production of Black Tape.
• 1949
  • Opens Osaka and Tokyo Branch Offices ;
  • Begins production of anticorrosion tapes.
• 1951 Produces first plastic tapes in Japan.
• 1957 Begins production of electrical insulating casting and molding products.
• 1959 Suita Plant begins operation.
• 1961
  • Opens first overseas office in New York ;
  • Begins production of fluoroplastic products (NITOFLON) ;
  • Begins production of surface protection vinyl sheets (SPV).
• 1962
  • Lists common stocks on Second Sections of Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Stock Exchange ;
  • Toyohashi Plant begins operation ;
• 1964 Begins production of FRP electrical insulating products and double-coated adhesive tape.
• 1966 Begins production of semiconductor encapsulating materials.
• 1967
  • Lists common stocks on First Sections of Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Stock Exchange ;
  • Kanto Plant begins operation.
  • Begins production of medical adhesive sheets.
• 1968 Forms Nitto Denko America, Inc..
• 1969
  • Kameyama Plant begins operation ;
  • Forms Nitto Denko Taiwan Nitto Denko as the first overseas manufacturing base.
• 1973 Begins production of flexible printed circuits.
• 1974
  • Forms Nitto Belgium N.V. (now called Nitto Europe N.V.) ;
  • Begins production of sealing materials (EPT Sealer).
• 1975
  • Forms Nitoms, Inc.;
  • Begins production of polarizing films for liquid crystal displays.
• 1976 Begins production of high-polymer separation membranes (reverse-osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes).
• 1977 Tohoku Plant begins operation.
• 1981 Begins production of tapes for athletes and rehabilitaion, taping tapes (NITREAT).
• 1982 Kyushu Plant (now called Nitto Electronics Kyusyu) begins operation.
• 1983 Begins production of transdermal drug delivery patches.
• 1985 Begins production of reinforce and vibration damping materials (NITOHARD).
• 1986 Shiga Plant begins operation.
• 1987 Acquires Hydranautics in the U.S.A.
• 1988 Celebrates 70th anniversary and changes name to Nitto Denko Corp..
• 1989
  • Begins production of retardation films for liquid crystal displays(NRF);
  • Forms Nitto Denko Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.;
  • Develops plant tissue culture technology (Tissue-cultured Panax Ginseng).
• 1992 Begins production of protective films for painted surface of automobiles.
• 1994 Forms Nitto Denko (Shanghai Pu Dong New Area) Co., Ltd.
• 1995 Forms Nitto Denko(Shanghai Songjiang) Co.,Ltd.
• 1996
  • Onomichi plant begins operation ; Forms Nitto Medical Corp. ;
  • Begins production of printed wiring material for HDD (use for wireless suspension) ;
  • Forms Nitto Lifetec Corp.;
  • Receives Miles prize.
• 1997
  • Forms Nitto Denko Material (Thailand) Co., Ltd, and P.T. Nitto Materials Indonesia;
  • Forms Nitto Shinko Corp. and Saitama Nitto Denko Corp.
• 1998 Begins production of Polarization Conversion Films (NIPOCS)
• 1999 Forms Nitto Denko Packaging System Corp., Nitto Denko Vietnam and Korea Nitto Optical Co., Ltd..
• 2000
  • Forms Mie Nitto Denko Corp., Korea Nitto Denko., Ltd.;
  • Forms Regional holding company, Nitto America, Inc.;
  • Forms Nitto Denko Himawari Corp., and Nitto Denko Technical Corp..
• 2001 Forms Nitto Denko Tape Materials (Vietnam) Co., Ltd, Nitto Denko Philippines Corp. and Nittos Denko (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.
• 2002
  • Forms Nitto Electronics Kyushu Corp., Aichi Nitto Denko Corp.;
  • Forms Regional holding company, Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd.;
  • Acquires Acoustiseal in the U.S.A., and the company changed name to Permacel Automotive Inc..
• 2003
  • Acquires Elan Transdermal Technologies, Inc. in the U.S.A., and the company changed name to Aveva Drug Delivery Systems, Inc.
  • Forms Taiwan Nitto Optical Co., Ltd..
• 2004
  • Forms Kinovate Life Siences, Inc.. Nitto Denko Packing System is changed name to Nitto Denko CS System Corp..
  • Forms Nitto Denko(Tianjin)Co., Ltd. and Nitto Fine Circuit Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
• 2005
  • Forms Optimate Corp., and Shanghai Nitto Optical Co., Ltd.;
  • An invention of the method of manufacturing wide-view-angle birefringent film for LCDs receives the Prime Minister Prize.
• 2006 Head Office is relocated to Osaka.
• 2007 Kyoshin Corp. and Nitto Denko Matex Corp. are consolidated into Nitto Denko Corp..
• 2008
  • High performance reverse osmosis (RO) membrane element for seawater desalination "SWC5" receives 2007 Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards for Excellence ;
  • Forms Nitto Denko Asia Technical Center in Singapore.
• 2009 Forms Nitto Denko India Private Ltd. in Manesar, India.
• 2011 Acquires Avecia Biotechnology Inc..