Functional glass product development

Concept proposal with “visible” functions

Abstract

Sunbalance® is Asahi Glass’ low-E insulating glass used in construction. It was first marketed in 1993 and gained popularity as a sophisticated energy-saving glass for use in new-single family homes. As a result, it has become the de facto industry standard. What were the types of organizational and strategic efforts underpinning the success? The results show that creating a concept with a “visible” function and proposing concepts that can be viscerally experienced were some of the success factors. Asahi Glass adopted this process internally and used it in the development of other types of functional glass. It is believed that the effort put into a series of proposal-type developments in the same company was an effective approach for suppliers.