Musashi Seimitsu will use AGVs in its own plants

Israeli tech entrepreneur Ran Poliakine is teaming up with a unit of Honda Motor Co to bring artificial intelligence technologies to the industrial manufacturing process.

According to the Times of Israel, Poliakine will work with Honda subsidiary Musashi Seimitsu Corporation "to bring AI and digitalisation to the production line, as mainstream or traditional industry has not yet undergone transformation via AI or digital or optical technologies".

Development of a self-driven forklift for the production floor is one of two main projects for the collaboration, the second being developing AI technology-based robots to do quality assurance on production lines.

Initially, the products will be deployed in Musashi's 30-plus global manufacturing plants. But Poliakine says the cooperation and its fruits will be beneficial not only for Musashi but also for the industry as a whole.

The partnership was announced as a delegation of businesspeople from Japan, the largest and most senior ever, visited Israel, headed by Japanese Minister of Economy Hiroshige Seko.

"Industry 4.0 represents the fourth technology revolution and introduces the smart factory: a new world of disruptive innovation that is analogous to the internet revolution and driven by AI where machines are communicating and cooperating with each other and humans in real-time," said Eli Cohen, Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry. "Bringing together the very best of technology and innovation from forward-thinking companies in Israel and Japan enables fast acceleration towards the dawn of this very exciting new technological era."