Advanced automation giant OMRON has opened a cutting-edge new automation and technology center (ATC) in Stuttgart.
With the aim of supporting customers, partners and end-users in Germany and across Europe, the hub focuses on advanced automation solutions across a range of industries.
Its aim is to facilitate co-creation, proof-of-concept development and hands-on collaboration, and bring together experts in in automation, robotics, vision, IoT, AI and other industrial fields, explains Stéphane Chômienne, Managing Director of OMRON Industrial Automation Europe.
“We have 48 automation and proof-of-concept centers worldwide – these are technology centers where we demonstrate and innovate with our partners and their customers,” he says. “We selected Stuttgart for this latest one based on the location of European machine makers and other key market players. It is at the heart of the ecosystem for our market and target customers.”
Expansion in Europe
The new ATC is central to OMRON’s strategy to enhance its presence and market share in EMEA, says Mr. Chômienne.
“The machinery automation business is roughly a 13 billion Euro market in Europe – and Germany, Switzerland and Austria are by far the largest markets. We wanted to extend our presence in Europe, especially in the largest markets, but of course, we are collaborating on many projects on an international basis.”
They have ecosystems of end-users, system integrators and machine makers in different countries, he explains:
“In Germany, we have a very strong network of machine makers in the medical industry while in France there is quite a large ecosystem of end-users making drugs or medical devices. Our role is therefore to collaborate with both end-users in France and machine makers in Germany to co-develop innovative solutions and take them to the next step.”
Medical Innovation
Indeed, currently in development by experts at the ATC in Stuttgart are a number of ground-breaking innovations for the medical industry. One solution, a collaboration with leading end-users and machine makers, employs AI and vision solutions to track and check the quality of vials before filling.
“This innovation is for specific machinery within the production stage and can ensure a vial is not broken or damaged or has any impurity at all before being filled with vaccine. It is also being developed to meet the aesthetic and laminar flow requirements of the medical industry,” says Mr. Chômienne.
ATC Stuttgart also has some advanced projects in battery manufacturing and is active in the digital and semiconductor fields due to the increasing needs for the manufacture of next-generation chips for AI and electric vehicles.
Labor shortage has been one of the main drivers for the creation of both the center and many of its innovations.
“This is especially important in the interaction between machines and humans: cobotics solutions and human machine interfaces that adapt to the skill of the operators. We are developing and innovating concepts to make the use and set-up of machines as easy as possible so customers do not need a robot or machine expert to control them.”
Accelerating Development
OMRON already has ATCs in Barcelona and Annecy and expects to move some customer training and support from these sites to Stuttgart.
“Our Barcelona center is for all of our automation product portfolio while the one in France is more focused on flexible manufacturing and robotics,” Mr. Chômienne says. The ATC in Stuttgart is only five minutes from the airport – it can be reached very easily by European customers, including machine makers and system and end-users in France.”
For now, between them the three centers offer good coverage of both the geographical area and essential industry sectors.
“Where we could imagine possibly extending our footprint would be with a proof-of-concept center in Italy,” he continues. “This is one of the top five markets in Europe and is a very large OEM/machine makers market so we could imagine extending our capabilities there in the future.”
Alongside the opening of the Stuttgart ATC came the official announcement of a global collaboration with US operation Cognizant. The idea is to offer a one-stop solution for digital transformation: OMRON’s OT products and Cognizant’s IT capabilities.
He adds:
“We combined the opening of the ATC with the announcement of the collaboration because both have the aim of accelerating our development and broadening our market in Europe.”
