米国における研究コンソーシアムの成功例

―60年続いている化学工学分野の研究コンソーシアム―

抄録

A national power can be said to be a scientific and technological power. Some newly developed countries have accelerated their scientific and technological progress and are catching up with or even surpassing Japan. Japan must stay focused to maintain our scientific and technological lead. The chemical industry is a key part of this development, and distillation technology plays an indispensable role. Extensive studies are needed to establish the design method. It is impossible for a single company to carry out such studies, so petroleum engineers in the US have formed a research consortium. The member companies of Fractionation Research, Inc. (FRI) first incorporated over sixty years ago, with the expectation of continuing for only five years. Today the capital of the company is four hundred million dollars and its budget is two hundred million dollars. FRI started with 34 USA-based companies in 1952 and today has 72 member companies world-wide. The long-lasting success and effectiveness is due to the faithful execution of the studies requested by the members. The system of decision making in the company is directly expressed in the organization chart where member companies are at the top and the president is under them. Their motto is "FRI Is Member Driven!"