At the Corporate Research & Development Laboratories, Sumitomo Metals carries out research in a wide range of areas and disciplines, including iron and steel and engineering. Development concentrates on applicable, analytical, and process technologies as well as industrial processes, production processes, and potential new products.
The following five projects are just some of those that the laboratories have been involved in as they gear up for the future.

1)		The laboratories have developed extremely lightweight steel sheets, for use in automotive body panels, which are both highly shock-absorbent and very safe. They have also had success in developing such new surface-treated steel products as corrosion-resistant steel sheets for vehicles and environment-friendly precoated steel sheets.
2)		Upholding the reputation of Sumitomo Metals, renowned worldwide as a maker of the finest quality pipes, the laboratories have developed a high cross angle cone-type piercer using Sumitomo Metals' proprietary technology. Additionally, the laboratories have contributed immensely to production improvements in such high-quality seamless pipes as oil well pipes, line pipes, boiler tubes, and mechanical tubes.
3)		Automotive manufacturers that are trying to simultaneously lightweight their products and give their vehicle bodies greater rigidity are using Sumitomo Metals' hydroforming technology-a strategic technology that helps increase the number of uses for steel pipes-in production models. These manufacturers have been extremely satisfied with hydroforming.
4)		In the civil engineering and construction fields, the laboratories have played an instrumental role in bringing into market Sumitomo Metals' Weather Act Treatment technology for steel plates, which has been widely hailed as a truly groundbreaking innovation.
5)		In conjunction with Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., the laboratories have developed high-quality strip production technology, a pioneering technology that makes possible the continuous casting of high-quality, high-performance medium-thick slabs at an exceptionally low cost.