The future belongs to the brave
Shimadzu is and remains an innovative partner in the scientific arena
The story of Shimadzu is one of tremendous ingenuity and great visions. In the end, the visions became reality – also (and even more so) in the Shimadzu Innovation Centers that have been established since 2015 as well. In this second and final part of our short series on the company’s 150-year history, we’re going to take a look at these think tanks that have redefined the phrase “close to the customer”.
Shimadzu has always been close to its customers and focused on the needs of society: Right from the start, the company has been developing and producing innovations that advance research – and ultimately humanity. This was already the case during the first decades of the company under Genzo Shimadzu Sr. and Jr. The introduction of several Innovation Centers in the recent past gave product development an extra boost and redefined what it means to be close to the customer. In these centers, Shimadzu develops new devices and applications together with users.[1]
Because Shimadzu knows: The world is full of diversity, and each customer has their own requirements. The Innovation Centers help when it comes to understanding these requirements even better and offering the right solutions. Here, academic expertise is combined with technical prowess. The four sites in Europe, China, Singapore and the USA have taken cooperation with important partners, such as universities, laboratories and private companies, to a whole new level. The importance of the hubs for research and development in the field of measurement and analysis technology cannot be emphasized enough.
New solutions for the future
The European Innovation Center (EUIC) in Duisburg, Germany, is one of these innovation-led think tanks.[2] It unites Shimadzu’s state-of-the-art technologies with forward-facing concepts for markets and science. The goal is always the same: coming up with new solutions for the future!
Launched in 2017, it is a real success story. Shimadzu and its partners focus on five areas in the EUIC:
- Clinical
- Food
- Imaging
- Composites
- Green Transformation (GX)
Highly respected scientists from prestigious European universities contribute their research expertise to the European Innovation Center and in turn benefit from the opportunities to collaborate with Shimadzu.
Faster inspections lead to greater food safety
One example is Prof. Erich Leitner from Graz University of Technology, Austria. In 2018, the food safety specialist, who had been a customer of Shimadzu for a long time already, joined forces with the technology experts: The goal was to jointly develop standardized methods for monitoring mineral oil components (MOSH and MOAH) in processed foods and packaging.[3]
Shimadzu went on to build automated chromatography and mass spectrometry systems that reduce the amount of human effort and thus user error, while Leitner contributed his expertise in the areas of sample preparation and analytical protocols, optimizing the devices. The automated system eventually allowed Leitner to analyze 50 samples per day, whereas previous methods could take up to two days to analyze just a few samples. This was progress made possible by bringing together expertise and resources in the EUIC.
“Through the European Innovation Center, Shimadzu is the first company who proposes us an actual and effective collaboration. This is a win-win and exciting partnership.”
Prof. Franck Saint-Marcoux,
University Hospital of Limoges (France)
Shimadzu is working with these universities and other research institutions in the EUIC at the moment
Working together saves lives
The network of knowledge provides selected customers with opportunities to take part in developing or updating Shimadzu devices, something that was previously unimaginable. This collaboration paves the way for medical research, for example. Higher chances of surviving liver cancer – or even recognizing the presence of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease before symptoms appear: These are just a few examples of what has now become a reality thanks to methods developed at the EUIC.[4, 5] “For a researcher, having a prototype and [being] the first to try something is a desire your whole life,” says mass spectrometry expert Dr. Enrico Davoli from the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy. Collaborating with Shimadzu’s EUIC gave him, along with many other academics, this valuable opportunity.
Shimadzu also provides financial support for PhD students from the partner institutes through the EUIC and, last but not least, the Innovation Center establishes contacts between researchers, in this way acting as an important network.
“One of our goals is to identify key opinion leaders and form strong research relationships with them. We see partners, not customers. We work together to maximise their research and the performance of our analytical instruments,” says Stéphane Moreau, who is both LCMS Product Manager at Shimadzu Europe and responsible for the company’s partnerships. One example of a groundbreaking device made possible by the collaboration at the European Innovation hub was the ELEM-SPOT: In 2024, four partners – Shimadzu, TotalEnergies, the French Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA) and the Spanish Universidad de Oviedo (UO) – unveiled the powerful and versatile device to the public.[6]
“[…] for me, the collaboration with Shimadzu is based on trust and a long-term relationship. This is quite different from other companies. I must say that this is the most fruitful collaboration I have had and still have.”
Prof. Christophe Hirtz, University of Montpellier (France)
Huge time savings
It all began with a problem we are facing today: Although biofuels are a key part of making our world a carbon-neutral place,[7] they can contain undesirable oxygen compounds. Recognizing these is difficult. Experts were amazed when the solution was presented in the form of the ELEM-SPOT – after three years of joint research work: A GCMS was coupled with a special combustion unit that can detect compounds that contain either oxygen or nitrogen – with high sensitivity. This reduces the time it takes to detect oxygen compounds in biofuels by 80 percent!
The Shimadzu Innovation Centers are part of a line of tradition that goes right back to Genzo Shimadzu Sr. and Jr. “To contribute to a society changing at a dizzying pace, we broke new ground,“ says Yasunori Yamamoto,
President and CEO of Shimadzu Corporation, referring to the company’s history. “In every instance, the challenges we faced were by no means easy. Nevertheless we pressed forward, encouraged by the voices of uncompromising scientists and researchers who shared our goals, accumulating technology and delivering solutions.”
A pioneer and reliable partner
Of course, nobody knows exactly what the future holds. However, one thing is certain: Shimadzu remains a technological pioneer and a reliable partner. Yasunori Yamamoto believes that humanity is facing unprecedented challenges: “[…] the expectations placed on science and technology are higher than ever.” The solution: “As we move forward, we must pool our strength with even more scientists and researchers than before.” The Shimadzu Innovation Centers will play their part here.
As was true 150 years ago, the same goes for today: The future belongs to the brave, and Shimadzu is certainly that.
“Shimadzu is an innovative company for academia and industries – and open for developments to fulfil future demands.”
Prof. Frank Walther, TU Dortmund University (Germany)
Exceptional design!
In a way, design is the interface between technology and user. The Shimadzu Design Department has been running since 1958. The employees there ensure that appliances are easy to use and look good at the same time. Shimadzu has brought home no less than 134 design awards since 1961! It all began in the 1960s and 1970s with analytical scales, including the A2 and NL-200 models, which won the traditional Japanese “Good Design Award”.
Shimadzu received three of these awards in 1985: for the LC-6A liquid chromatograph, the GCMS-QP1000 and the “Autograph AG-5000B” measuring and test device. Over the years, chromatographs, X-ray machines, DNA sequencers, TOC analyzers and many other products of various classes have been recognized with awards too. For example, Shimadzu won seven prizes in 2021 – including a Red Dot Design Award for a stylishly packaged scented oil set that customers in East Asia received as a gift. Shimadzu is simply award-winning on many levels!
Click here to go to the Shimadzu Corporation website for the “150 years of Shimadzu” anniversary
Click here to go to the Shimadzu Germany website for the “150 years of Shimadzu” anniversary
Click here to go to the first part of our anniversary series
[1] https://www.shimadzu.com/an/news-events/collabo/sicadl.html
[2] https://www.shimadzu.eu/euic
[3] https://www.shimadzu.com/stories-of-excellence/food-safety.html
[4] https://www.shimadzu.com/stories-of-excellence/mario-negri-institute.html
[5] https://www.shimadzu.com/stories-of-excellence/university-of-montpellier.html
