More than skin deep: Kao and Panasonic co-develop high-precision device for weaving fine fiber in a new 943 million-dollar business
Kao’s new product Biomimesis Veil is the first practical application of fine fiber technology in the skincare field. The development of this high-precision beauty appliance that forms an ultra-thin film was made possible through a partnership with Panasonic. We dove deep into the collaboration between Kao and Panasonic and the development journey that led them to realize this product through internal and external open innovation.
Kao’s new product Biomimesis Veil uses fine fiber technology that spurts microfibers directly onto the skin to form a layered ultra-thin film. On November 1st, 2019, the company announced that the product will be released mainly in the Asia region by Kao’s est and in Western countries by Kanebo Cosmetics ’ SENSAI. In the near future, Kao plans for fine fiber technology — coined as “a second skin” and “the skin of the future” — to also be used in the medical field and to be the foundation of a 100 billion yen (US$943 million) business.
Biomimesis Veil is the first step in this strategy. Biomimesis Veil is designed to be applied after a person’s nightly skincare routine and involves applying the “Veil Effecter” (beauty lotion) to the skin, then setting the “Veil Potion” (beauty essence) into the “Veil Diffuser” (a sophisticated and compact appliance) that spurts it directly onto the skin. With this, an ultra-thin ‘veil’ is formed on the skin’s surface that creates a moist environment for the skin throughout the night. This proposes a new type of nightly care routine that hasn’t been seen before.
According to Kao, the development of this fine fiber technology began way back in 2007. It started with research for improving the performance of non-woven fabric used in floor-cleaning wipes, diapers, and masks. They decided to adopt an ultra-thin spinning technology called “electro-spinning”. By shooting out positively-charged polymer solution onto target objects that are negatively-charged, the solution is drawn out string-like while also shot out with great force, and multiple layers are laid onto the skin’s surface to form a film. Kao aimed to make the fibers of the non-woven fabric even thinner.
Their thinking was that the thinner the fibers became, the more their various performance factors, such as softness, touch, and adhesion, would change significantly. However, handling it in sheet-form proved to be extremely difficult, making the research progress slowly.
They had a breakthrough when they came up with the idea of spurting threads directly onto the skin. On trying it out, they found that the resulting film didn’t have a visible edge and it would naturally bond with the skin and not come off easily.
Furthermore, it was found that the layered, ultra-thin film not only formed smoothly and unified on the skin’s surface, it also followed the movement of the skin naturally, and due to its high capillary force (the ability for the gaps between threads to act as pipes for sucking up liquid), it was extremely good at preserving the formula of the cosmetics within it and keeping consistent. Having discovered these qualities, in-depth research was conducted into whether the technology could be used in the skincare field as a membrane that sits on the skin.
Accordingly, they aimed to develop a beauty device that could reliably and consistently form the ultra-thin film and began investigating how to miniaturize such a device and what the optimal electric voltage and flow control would be. At this point, 11 years had passed since the research began.
Starting a partnership with Panasonic to develop a high-precision device
In order to turn this technology into a product, Kao needed to develop a highly precise appliance that could fit into a woman’s hand and could also reliably spurt the polymer substance. Therefore, in the fall of 2015, they sought to partner with Panasonic, which had expertise in the development and manufacture of beauty appliances.
The most difficult aspect for Panasonic when developing the device was scaling it down to a compact size. When the polymer substance is charged to the high voltage of 15,000 V and is spurt onto a negatively-charged human body, in order for it to not discharge itself, the substance must be well insulated in its container and kept above a certain fixed distance from the container’s outer edge. On top of this, it needed room to hold the pouch (9 ml) and to be small enough to fit in one hand. Also, in order to negatively charge the human body, they needed a design where the user’s finger would naturally touch the electrode when holding the device.
In addition, a gear pump was necessary to suck up the infinitesimal polymer substance and form it into threads, however making this precise was not an easy task. The gear pump was possible with simple technology, but due to the requirements of small size and high precision, Panasonic had to remake the test mold up to three times.
The process of product development and the thinking behind it differ between cosmetics makers and electrical appliance makers. Panasonic found it exceedingly difficult to follow a process where the timeline was already decided up until the end goal with each milestone having to be cleared one by one while providing prototypes in a timely manner.
Not only did the two companies have differences in the development process, but also in the importance laid on different phases of production. For example, the evaluation review phase that’s conducted before mass production begins. At Kao, test production is done with the final product specifications after going through repeated prototyping; however, Panasonic prefers the specifications before ordering the molds. By reconciling these kinds of small differences, they were able to overcome difficult problems as they occurred and complete the product without incident. Achieving this was entirely down to the two companies’ relationship of mutual trust.
In looking back at the development process, Panasonic’s Keiko Kitaoka mentioned that Kao and Panasonic “were able to work in the same direction with a determination and spirit that was all about doing what needed to be done to get this product made. It wasn’t a case of Kao simply thrusting their demands on us; it really felt like they worked with us together to craft this product. They would reply immediately to give us feedback on prototypes or to give us the results of their testing, and it was great how we could communicate closely with them as the project progressed”.
This Veil Diffuser device, jointly developed across 4 years from the time Kao approached Panasonic, is the fruit borne from the open innovation of two companies with quite different cultures.
Henceforth, Kao will continue to develop new products that use this technology in fields such as makeup and body makeup by modifying the formulas of the Potion (beauty essence) that forms the ultra-thin veil and the Veil Effecter (beauty lotion) that is used along with it.
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Lina Ono
