Producer
Furukawa Electric
Japanese electrical conglomerate (TSE: 5802), co-inventor of VAD (Vapor Axial Deposition) preform process in 1977 with NTT and Fujikura. Primary optical fiber preform and drawing facility at Mie Works (Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture), which received IEEE Milestone recognition and switched to 100% renewable energy (announced October 2023). Launched the world's highest-fiber-count cable (13,824-fiber) from Mie Works No. 2 plant (February 2026). US operations via OFS Fitel (Norcross/Carrollton/Avon GA) — OFS and Hengtong formed a JV (Jiangsu OFS Hengtong Optical Technology, Suzhou, est. 2010) to produce VAD preforms in China. Furukawa is one of the world's most vertically integrated optical fiber companies: preform → fiber → cable → connectivity.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What they make
4 inputs Furukawa Electric supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
manufactured
Vehicle wiring harnesses →
manufactured
Ultra-thin copper foil (<8µm) →
manufactured
Optical Fiber Preform (Silica Glass Rod) →
manufactured
Optical Fiber Preform (Silica Glass Rod) →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Furukawa Electric makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
3 facilities
Furukawa Electric Mie Works →
JPKameyama-shi, Mie Prefecture · cable_plant
Primary optical fiber + cable manufacturing complex for Furukawa Electric; Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture. Received IEEE Milestone plaque. Switched to 100% renewable energy (October 2023 announcement). No. 2 plant launched February 2026, producing ultra-high-count cables (world's first 13,824-fiber cable). Co-inventor of VAD preform process (1977 with NTT and Fujikura). One of Japan's most important optical fiber production sites, part of Japan's strategic VAD preform technology heritage.
Furukawa Electric Nikko Works →
JPTochigi · manufacturing
Primary production site for battery-grade ultra-thin copper foil (<8µm); only non-Chinese facility qualified for sub-6µm at volume (as of 2024).
OFS Fitel – Carrollton, Georgia →
USGeorgia
OFS Fitel (Furukawa Electric US subsidiary) optical fiber production plant in Carrollton, Carroll County, Georgia. Part of $138.9M expansion (2018) adding ~200 jobs. OFS uses VAD preform technology inherited from Furukawa. Also operates specialty fiber plants in Avon CT, Somerset NJ, and Sturbridge MA. OFS and Hengtong formed a China JV (Jiangsu OFS Hengtong Optical Technology, Suzhou) in 2010 to transfer VAD preform technology to China.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Optical Fiber & Preforms (Mie Works, OFS Fitel)
25%Automotive Wire Harnesses (Furukawa Automotive Systems)
30%Ultra-Thin Copper Foil (<8µm) — PCB & Battery
15%Semiconductor Cooling & Thermal Management
10%Power & Industrial Cables
20%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Furukawa Electric (Tokyo) traces its corporate origins to the Furukawa Ichibei zaibatsu, which purchased the Ashio Copper Mine in Tochigi Prefecture in 1877. Ashio became one of Japan's most productive copper mines — and the site of Japan's first major industrial environmental catastrophe: from the 1880s, copper tailings and acidic waste from the Ashio smelter poisoned the Watarase River and destroyed the livelihoods of over 40,000 farmers downstream. The Ashio Copper Mine Pollution Incident of 1890-1910 was Japan's first environmental activism moment — politician Tanaka Shozo presented a petition directly to Emperor Meiji and called for the mine's closure. The Furukawa zaibatsu resisted, the mine continued operating, and the farmers received little compensation. Furukawa Ichibei died in 1903 without seeing the full consequence of the pollution. Today, the corporate descendant of that zaibatsu — Furukawa Electric Company, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange — makes the ultra-thin copper foil that is the anode current collector in Tesla 4680 cylindrical cells and next-generation EV batteries. The company whose copper mine destroyed Japan's first industrial river now makes a critical component in the 'zero emission' electric vehicle. The copper supply chain has a long memory.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. ↗Capacity2026
In February 2026, Furukawa Electric's Mie Works No. 2 plant produced and shipped the world's highest-fiber-count single cable: 13,824 individual optical fibers bundled into one cable structure. This single cable can theoretically carry approximately 13,824 × 100 Tbps = 1.3 Pbps (petabits per second) of data when combined with advanced wavelength division multiplexing technology. The record cable is designed for hyperscale data center and trunk fiber route applications where conduit capacity is limited. One cable the diameter of a standard utility conduit can carry more data than all of the world's internet traffic in 2010. Furukawa's Mie Works — operating entirely on renewable energy since October 2023 — produces this world-record fiber capacity while being carbon-neutral: the cable that enables the AI data center era is manufactured with zero-carbon electricity.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. ↗Origin2023
Furukawa Electric traces to 1884 when the Furukawa zaibatsu (founded as a mining company by Ichibei Furukawa) established a copper wire manufacturing operation to use copper from its Ashio copper mine. The Ashio copper mine famously caused Japan's first modern industrial pollution crisis (1890s) when copper tailings poisoned the Watarase River — an early environmental catastrophe that shaped Japanese industrial policy. From copper wire, Furukawa expanded into telecommunications, then fiber optics (co-developing VAD process with NTT in 1977). OFS Fitel (a legacy of Lucent Bell Labs spin-off assets) gives Furukawa significant US optical fiber presence under the OFS brand. The company's Mie Works became an IEEE Milestone site recognizing the VAD invention, and in 2026 produced the world's densest single cable: 13,824 optical fibers bundled together.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. ↗