Factory automation company OMRON has announced opening of its 1st Automation Center exclusively catering the logistics industry in Singapore, as well as other countries in South East Asia and Oceania. Accordingly, this is OMRON’s second automation center in Singapore, the sixth in the APAC region, and 38^th globally.

The OMRON AUTOMATION CENTER SINGAPORE for Logistics is one of the first solution development centers to support the adoption of Robotics Middleware Framework (RMF) in the logistics sector. It will enable and showcase interoperability between complex and heterogenous multi-robot systems (MRS). Most importantly, it enables stronger and seamless human-machine collaboration. Particularly, where mobile robots using natural or existing infrastructure within the warehouse perform autonomous movement.

Innovative Automation Center

Expressing his enthusiasm while inaugurating the center, Junta Tsujinaga, Company President, Industrial Automation Company of OMRON Corporation said, “The move indicates a big leap for OMRON towards realizing our vision of ‘Enriching the Future for People, Industries, and the Globe by innovative-Automation’ through expanding the presence & reach of OMRON AUTOMATION CENTERS in niche but growing industries.”

In addition, Tsujinaga said, “Our long-term vision—Shaping the Future 2030 (SF 2030)—takes into account the dynamic, diversified, and complex world of manufacturing led by Industry 4.0 and digitization…We believe that our unique capabilities based on human-machine harmony and collaborations with like-minded organizations will enable the evolution of technologies. (Hence), will realize the transformation of the Logistics industry to Logistics 4.0 and more warehouses being automated.”

The center aims to work closely with partners in the robotics and automation eco-system to catalyze the uptake of Logistics 4.0 in Asia Pacific. Moreover, it will help to address the region’s growing needs for warehouse automation, which will rise with a compounded annual growth rate of over 14 percent over the next 5 years, with a higher increase in both developed and emerging countries in Asia Pacific.

“Today’s event marks an important milestone in reinforcing OMRON’s commitment to answer social issues and needs of its focus sectors with its innovative-Automation solutions. The logistics industry across Singapore and many more countries of Asia Pacific continues to experience unprecedented growth despite many challenges,” said Mr Don Teng, Managing Director, OMRON Asia Pacific.

In addition, Teng said, “OMRON AUTOMATION CENTER Singapore for Logistics will enable players in Asia Pacific to test, develop, and deploy innovative automation solutions. (This) will act as a big driver to their future growth.”

Taps Power of Data

The center is a unique facility housing many solutions for intralogistics such as demonstration of an end-to-end fulfilment center operation. Particularly, using collaborative robots and solutions using natural feature navigation to perform autonomous movement of materials, 3D-vision-guided pick, and palletize solutions. Furthermore, it also showcases the interoperability of mobile robots, logistics training cells, as well as assortment of technologies, enabling sustainable operations.

Swami V Ramamurthy, Robotics Business Division Head, OMRON Asia Pacific, said, “OMRON’s connected intralogistics solutions and real-time analytics capabilities, including the 3D-vision guided robotics and custom mobile robot solutions, will make our customers tap on the power of data to make faster and smarter business decisions, thereby giving them a competitive edge along with driving continuous improvements along the way. Furthermore, the center will be transformative for the industry by helping organizations achieve carbon neutrality with increased operational efficiencies and enhanced productivity signifying a real transition to Logistics 4.0.”

Collaboration with Other Institutions

OMRON plans to actively work with technology companies, system integrators, and start-ups with technology offerings relevant to the logistics industry. At the same time, to pioneer warehouse automation solutions catered to the specific needs of 3PL and 4PL fulfilment centers, e-commerce providers and other warehouse management end-users.

In conjunction with the launch, OMRON also initiated a partnership with the ROS-I Consortium Asia Pacific, managed by A*STAR’s ARTC to facilitate the incubation and development of capabilities and applications that leverage the RMF for the logistics industry. In addition, the partnership also aims to develop common standards for robotics and automation that can suit globally, leveraging OMRON’s custom mobile robot solutions.

“We look forward to working closely with OMRON in leading the adoption of the framework in the logistics industry, while encouraging implementation at scale for the industry and other cross-sectorial applications,” said Dr Wong Chow Cher, Assistant Chief Executive, ARTC, A*STAR.