User:Pjps7/Stanley Electric

Introduction
Stanley Electric is a Japanese company, producing electric light sources. Stanley owns 36 consolidated subsidiaries, 3 associated companies, 23 factories in 8 countries, offices in 17 countries and has over 13000 employees.

Main customers for the core business (automotive lightning) are Honda and Nissan. Other customers using Stanley`s products include Toyota, Mazda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ford and Chrysler. Stanley is listed in the TOPIX of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

History
The company was founded in 1920 by Takaharu Kitano, who named the company after British-American Africa-explorer Henry Morton Stanley. As the company states, he was impressed by Stanley`s Vision, courage and pioneering spirit. At that time, only about 8000 cars were present in Japan, all of them imported.


 * 1933: Company was transferred into a corporation
 * 1934: First branch in Osaka
 * 1954: Start of business relations with Honda
 * 1958: Listing in the Tokyo Stock Exchange
 * 1965: Start of silicon processing
 * 1968: First international branch in Taiwan
 * 1968: First research center for lightning
 * 1979: First branch in the USA (Stanley US)
 * 1980: Development of colored liquid crystals
 * 1984: Branch in France
 * Until 2009: Many branches in Europe, South- and North-America, Asia and Australia. Stanley and the German company Hella founded a joint holding based in Melbourne in 2002.

Products
The products include standard headlights (HID) as well as LED headlights. Stanley developed the world-first LED high mount stop lamp.

Stanley also produces all automotive lightning, display LED backlights, camera flash, automotive interior displays, sensors, luminaires and streetlights. (used e.g. in Shanghai and Tokyo). From 2013 onwards, Stanley will concentrate more on the development of LED headlights and plans to raise the proportion from 1% to 20% until 2017.

Resarch & Development
Stanley does R&D at 5 research centers in Japan, where new light sources are explored, present light sources are optimized and new products are developed. One of those centers is located in the city of Tsukuba. Besides that, picoprojectors with MEMS and biotechnology are explored. Research results are regularly published in scientific journals.

Raybrig & Motorsports


Stanley sells its products under the brand name Raybrig directly to customers and sponsors the Team Kunimitsu in the Super GT.

Social involvement
Founder Kitano also established the Kitano foundation for lifelong education, which awards scholarships to people who can not afford education. The foundation is, among other countries, active in China, Vietnam, the Philippines and India.

Trivia
Stanley takes part in illumination events worldwide. At the festivities of 150-years Japanese-German friendship, the Brandenburg gate in Berlin was illuminated with LED floodlights. The Kabuki-za in the Ginza is illuminated every evening by Stanley`s LEDs. Both events where conducted in cooperation with lightning artist Makoto Ishii.

Weblinks
http://www.stanley.co.jp/e/