SEMBA Participates in a Operation Demonstration Project of “Material Bank® Japan”
SEMBA Corporation, a spatial design company headquartered in Japan, agrees with the vision of “Material Bank® Japan”, the Japanese version of the world’s largest building material sample marketplace, and will participate in its operational demonstration project. With the goal of becoming a “Good Ethical Company,” SEMBA will participate in the demonstration project and support “Material Bank® Japan” in its efforts to co-create a sustainable materials distribution platform.
1．Participation in the Demonstration Project of Material Bank® Japan
“Material Bank®”, the world’s largest building material sample marketplace that connects designers and materials, has launched the “Material Bank® Japan” operation demonstration project in January 2023 as its first overseas expansion. SEMBA is participating in this demonstration project as a “preliminary trial supporter” for the entire company.
“Material Bank®” in the U.S. ships building material samples from many manufacturers in bulk, reducing environmental impact by reducing the number of samples shipped, and reducing landfill and waste by reusing the samples.
The digital tool is attracting attention as a service that will lead to a revolution in the design process, as it not only allows sample selection and shipping, but also presentation, project management, and business negotiations to be conducted on a single platform.
SEMBA, an advocate and promoter of Ethical Design, sympathizes with “Material Bank®” ‘s desire to create an environment where designers can concentrate on their design work by eliminating waste in the sample request process, and has decided to fully support “Material Bank® Japan” to co-create a sustainable material sample distribution platform.
2．About “Material Bank®”
“Material Bank®” is the world’s largest building materials sample marketplace, operated by MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION. Launched in the United States in 2019, the service has streamlined the process of ordering building material samples for those involved in design and design work by combining a powerful database with proprietary robotic logistics facilities. They have built a unique system that combines a multi-brand cross-search and bulk billing system with established logistics facilities, and in the three years since its establishment, the number of participating designers has grown to 100,000 and the number of manufacturers handled to over 450.
In Japan, “Material Bank® Japan” is operated by “DesignFuture Japan”, and is scheduled to be officially opened to the public this spring after about four months of this demonstration project.
3．Ethical Materials Activities
Semba is promoting ethical design, which aims to co-create a better society throughout the entire supply chain from the perspective of “compassion” for people, local communities, and the natural environment. As part of this effort, we have been conducting “Ethical Material” activities since 2021, collecting and researching future-friendly materials based on our own selection criteria and perspectives. Currently, we are collecting information from about 100 building material and raw material manufacturers in pursuit of ethical interior materials.
By participating in this demonstration experiment, we hope to share our knowledge of ethical material activities with “Material Bank® Japan,” thereby contributing to the construction of a resource-recycling platform and recycling network for recovered samples, which is an industry issue. Semba will continue to think about future-friendly space creation to realize circular economy in the interior decoration industry.
