IHI Logistics & Machinery Corporation (IHI), a Tokyo-based integrator of factory automation equipment and industrial machinery, is collaborating with San Francisco-headquartered Osaro to increase adoption of robotics systems in warehouses across Japan. 

As part of the agreement, IHI will license multiple Osaro Robotic Depalletizing Systems, which use Osaro SightWorks Perception for picking, mixed-case depalletising, induction, kitting, and other automated functions.

Following a technical collaboration with Osaro, IHI has installed a demonstration system at its Yokohama Logi Lab and plans to deploy a production robotic depalletising system at a food wholesale company later this year.

“(Depalletising) is a warehouse workflow characterised by heavy use of manual labour and high levels of workplace injuries. Addressing this challenge aligns closely with our corporate mission of designing and building progressive engineering solutions for people and the planet,” says Motohiro Kawada, CEO of IHI Logistics & Machinery Corporation. “We conducted a year-long evaluation of five robotics software companies. Our decision to move forward with Osaro is based on their ability to handle a wider variety of boxes at much faster recognition speeds than other vendors.”

IHI joins a select group of top integrators and robotics solution providers that includes DAC Robotics, Innotech, LG CNS, and Mission Design and Automation.