Molded hook and loop fastener "MAGILOCK"

Example of "MAGILOCK" used in automobile seat

Kuraray Fastening will add a second production facility in the Maruoka Plant (Sakai-shi, Fukui) to respond to the demand growth for the molded hook and loop fastener "MAGILOCK." It will start operation from April 2009, and the amount of investment in the facility is about 300 million yen. The production capacity after this expansion will be 14,000,000m from the current 7,000,000m. This expansion is to respond to the growth in demands for "MAGILOCK" in automobile and other areas.

Today, automobile seats are mainly upholstered using the "hog ring method", with fastening wire placed in both the urethane cushion and the upholstery with metal rings. This method requires using a hog ring gun (a tool to fix the metal rings in place) which is physically demanding for operators, and in Europe and the U.S., the burden on workers has caused a number of industrial accident issues, resulting in a rapid expansion of the "mold-in system method" using the molded hook and loop fastener "MAGILOCK" as an alternative.

The "mold-in system method" can (1) reduce more than 500g per car in weight, which improves gas mileage and reduces CO₂ emissions, (2) promote the automation of assembly and improvement of production efficiency in seat manufacturing through simplifying the seat upholstering process and (3) lead to deterrence of industrial accident issues caused by the labor load, and owing to these advantages, the demand for "MAGILOCK" is expanding.