Stanley Electric Launches "ASTUV", Industry-First Coating Technology Brand
- Leveraging light technology to reduce energy consumption in coating processes -

Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. (Head Office: 2-9-13 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yasuaki Kaizumi) is pleased to announce the launch of its new coating technology brand, “ASTUV”, developed with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions.
This industry-first innovation combines a newly developed UV-curable coating material with a manufacturing process that uses UV light instead of hot air for drying curing. By replacing conventional processes in the production of our automotive headlamps with ASTUV, energy consumption can be reduced by more than 70%* compared to our current levels.
* Based on FY2024 data, including coating processes such as anti-fog and hard coating.

The automotive industry is under increasing pressure to work toward carbon neutrality. In response, Stanley Electric Group has set a target to reduce CO₂ emissions from business activities by 50% by 2030 (compared to FY2019). One key focus is reducing thermal energy usage at our global manufacturing sites through production process innovation.

ASTUV combines
- A newly developed solvent-free, surfactant-free UV-curable coating material.
- Stanley’s proprietary UV irradiation technology, optimized in terms of intensity, distance, and exposure time.
This eliminates the need for energy-intensive hot air drying in headlamp coating processes, reducing CO₂ emissions while enhancing product quality.

We plan to introduce a series of innovations in phases - starting with anti-fog technology, followed by hard coating technology, and finally decorative technologies for design components - to further expand the application scope of ASTUV.

- Traditional coatings caused streak marks (drip stains) and fogging due to condensation inside the headlamp.
- ASTUV uses a UV-cured film resistant to water and does not contain anionic surfactants, thus preventing such streaking and maintaining long-term clarity.

Anti-Fog Coating with ASTUV

- Conventional coatings form water droplets that scatter light, causing fogging.
- ASTUV-treated surfaces are hydrophilic, forming a continuous water film before droplets appear, preventing fog and maintaining optical performance.

- Conventional processes used hot air to dry solvent-based coatings, leading to high energy consumption.
- ASTUV removes this step entirely by applying UV-curable coatings and curing them directly with UV light, dramatically reducing electricity usage.