Auto, aerospace leader Yajima to establish US headquarters in Purdue Research Park

Yasukazu Baba (left) and Atushi Yokoyama, CEO of Yajima USA, pose with a trunk lid for the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86. Yokoyama is holding an engraved carbon fiber state of Indiana with Purdue and Yajima logos. (Image provided) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Yajima Industry Company Ltd., with specialty in lightweight automotive and aerospace products and components and supplier to Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., announces the establishment of Yajima USA, located in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette.

 Yajima specializes in the production of sheet metal pressed products using an integrated system from product design to production, including the die design and its production within the group of Yajima Industry, which are the strengths of the company.

Yajima is located at 944 Niino-cho, Ota-shi, Gunma 373-0032, Japan. Yajima also provides special products and components to the motorsports aftermarket by making use of its technology to design and produce innovative, lightweight automotive and aerospace parts.

“The founding of Yajima USA in the Purdue Research Park and its association with Purdue’s Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center is another example of the success of the Purdue Research Foundation’s efforts to bring high-technology companies to Indiana to promote the economic vitality of the state of Indiana and the region,” said Brian Edelman, president of the Purdue Research Foundation. 

The Yajima USA office is located at 1281 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette, and will focus on development of lightweight parts and components to proactively take advantage of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites and noncombustible magnesium alloy parts.

Yajima USA was attracted to West Lafayette by the combined presence of Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA), the home of North American production for the Ascent, Impreza, Legacy and Outback models, and of Purdue University’s Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center (CMSC), located in the Indiana Manufacturing Institute in the Purdue Research Park.

The Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center was founded in the College of Engineering in 2015 as an affiliate of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, one of the national manufacturing centers of excellence of the United States Department of Energy with the goal of developing model-based engineering methods for composites manufacturing in the automotive and wind energy industries.

Purdue’s Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center is located in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. It is partnering with Yajima USA, which is establishing a presence in the U.S. with its location in Purdue Research Park. (Image by Eric Smoldt) Download image

“We are especially pleased to be a partner with Yajima USA as the company establishes a presence in the United States with the goal of supplying products produced with advanced composites of carbon fiber in support of Subaru of Indiana and the growing aerospace products industries in the U.S. and Japan,” said R. Byron Pipes, executive director of CMSC at Purdue.

The goals of the Purdue CMSC are to develop a comprehensive set of simulation tools that connect advanced composites from their birth in manufacturing to their lifetime prediction; to advance the certification of composite products by analysis validated by experiments; to teach the use of these tools to the future generations of engineers; and to work with industry, academia, and government to put these tools in the hands of current engineers with the goal of developing weight-savings in advanced vehicle development.

Joint Yajima-Purdue CMSC programs are being developed to support the design and manufacturing simulation of products for the automotive and aerospace industries with Yajima USA personnel located in West Lafayette with professional personnel and advanced students of CMSC.

"Yajima's decision to make Indiana its U.S. headquarters supports the long-standing tradition of Japanese manufacturers choosing to grow in our state," said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger. "The establishment of Yajima USA in Purdue Research Park is the perfect match with its proximity to SIA, the Indiana Manufacturing Institute and other aerospace and automotive manufacturing companies. Yajima USA joins more than 300 Japanese business facilities in the state, and we're excited to watch them grow their operations and workforce in West Lafayette."

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is working with the company on a conditional incentive package. 

About Purdue Research Foundation

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park, Purdue Technology Centers and University Development Office. In 2020, the IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information about setting up a presence at Purdue, possibly in the Purdue Research Park or Discovery Park District, contact the PRF Economic Development Office at parksinfo@prf.org.

Purdue Research Foundation media contact: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org 
Sources: Brian Edelman, beedelman@prf.org