DENSO Corp. has established an agreement with Pioneer Corp. in which DENSO will take a stake in factory automation (FA) business Tohoku Pioneer EG Corp. (Tohoku Pioneer EG). The company is owned by a subsidiary of Pioneer Corp. called Tohoku Pioneer.
With a shrinking workforce and aging population globally, the manufacturing industry is currently at a turning point. Various initiatives have begun to promote industrial change, such as Connected Industries in Japan and INDUSTRIE 4.0 in Germany.
Against this backdrop, DENSO has set a goal of developing optimal solutions for FA systems in its “Long-term Plan 2025,” which was formulated in 2017. Specifically, DENSO plans to offer FA system solutions that combine automation processes using robots with IoT-based kaizen support by leveraging its expertise in process design and worksite management refined through the company’s many years of manufacturing automotive components. DENSO says it believes it can offer new value to society through these combined skillsets.
As a system integrator of various automated production equipment, Tohoku Pioneer EG has supplied advanced, custom-made FA production systems that meet the needs of customers – including DENSO – in various industries such as the automotive, electrical/electronic equipment, medical, food, semiconductor and IT industries.
DENSO says its track record of introducing automation systems at 130 plants globally has an affinity with Tohoku Pioneer EG’s experience in offering FA production systems. By taking a stake in Tohoku Pioneer EG, DENSO will be able to offer optimal streamlined FA system solutions and thereby contributing to the overall development of the manufacturing industry.
