Reflecting on 90 years of improving lives through innovation at OMRON

On Founder’s Day, we take a moment to celebrate the 90 years of technological breakthroughs that have pushed boundaries and improved lives. Looking forward, we are excited about the future of automation innovation and how it can be framed by sustainability, digitalization, and human-machine collaboration.?

Faith in the belief that social challenges spur technological development and vice versa is the lifeblood of our business. This has never been more applicable than today, when we face a host of challenges, from climate change to an aging population and the rising cost of living.??

Every year, on the 10th of May, almost 30,000 OMRON employees around the world celebrate the legacy of our founder, Kazuma Tateishi, often by participating in volunteer and charity projects in our communities.??

Founder’s Day provides an opportunity for us to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that our efforts in automation innovation are channelled into creating a more sustainable, prosperous, and harmonious world.?

This year, Founder’s Day takes on extra significance because 2023 marks 90 years of OMRON. Let’s take a look at how Tateishi’s vision has shaped OMRON’s innovation and evolution for the last 90 years, and will continue to be a guiding force going forwards.

Innovation milestones?

Kazuma Tateishi was a visionary entrepreneur who believed in the power of technology to improve people's lives. His first innovation was a high-precision timer for X-ray photography, developed in 1933 in response to a need from hospitals. This marked the beginning of OMRON’S journey in pioneering solutions to societal challenges, and set the tone for future developments.??

In 1960, OMRON achieved another major breakthrough with the unveiling of the first non-contact proximity switch at the Osaka International Trade Fair. This contributed to the creation of advanced machines capable of mass production without failure or wear.?

OMRON has continued to innovate and develop groundbreaking technologies, which have transformed industries and improved people's lives. These include the world's first automatic traffic signal, unmanned train station system, wearable blood pressure controller, ultra high-speed fuzzy logical controller, and automatic cancer cell diagnostic equipment.?

Our contributions can be seen in a wide variety of fields such as industrial automation, home appliances & office equipment, automobiles, social & financial systems, and healthcare.?

The development of relays, timers, switches, and other components essential for the automatic operation of manufacturing machines 50 years ago signalled the start of a long-term commitment to accelerating and advancing industrial automation. OMRON has made great strides in conceiving sensors, controllers, robots, artificial intelligence, and other solutions that help advance manufacturing processes.

Automation that addresses present-day challenges?

In the last five years, we have witnessed a series of historic events - from Covid-19 to Brexit - that have disrupted societal norms and created unprecedented challenges for industries worldwide.??

For the manufacturing industry, some of the repercussions have been labor shortages, supply chain instability, rising input costs, and inflation-squeezed margins - all of which are ongoing.???

Factory automation has been key to helping industrial settings to counteract these issues.?

Integration of factory devices through the IoT is helping manufacturers to unlock the benefits of Industry 4.0, which include greater efficiency through data monitoring and analysis, and improved collaboration between humans and machines. Meanwhile, the adoption of AI is helping to automate decision-making processes and optimize production schedules, leading to improved efficiency and reduced waste.??

OMRON is at the forefront of this movement, combining core automation platforms, such as robotics, control, sensing, and vision, with emerging technologies such as AI and 5G - to equip the manufacturing industries with creative solutions to the problems they face as a result of macro-environmental factors.?

Innovations such as AI-powered predictive maintenance solutions and collaborative robots are helping to accelerate data-driven operations through digitalization and create a blueprint for the next generation of smart factories.

A new dawn: autonomous society?

Going forwards, we believe that automation will play an even more important role in the future of industry, as a route to operating more sustainably, efficiently, and profitably.?

The world is witnessing an interesting and far-reaching shift in its approach to manufacturing. Until recently, mass consumption was the main driver for production and very little consideration was given to raw materials usage and the environment.??

Today we are transitioning away from this mindset towards an ‘autonomous’ approach that prioritises sustainability, the development and well-being of the individual, and quality over quantity.??

In this new world, harmonised automation solutions that improve productivity and help to solve ongoing labour shortages whilst reducing carbon footprint will be the way forward.?

Through our Shaping The Future 2030 long-term vision, using technology to create a better world will live on, as OMRON aims to help various industries to ease labour shortages, enhance productivity and achieve carbon neutrality. In the end, our goal is to create a production floor that achieves both environmental harmony and worker satisfaction.?

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