Omron Electronics fuels growth with partners

Staff -- Control Engineering, 8/1/2005

Hoffman Estates, IL—Omron Electronics LLC introduced nine partner companies, four new products, and reported a 9% increase in worldwide automation sales for fiscal year 2005 at its recent Editor's Day 2005 event. Integrating technologies with its new partners is one way Omron plans to double revenues in two years, stated Craig Bauer, Omron Electronics' president and COO.

Omron's nine new partners include: Ann Arbor Technologies; Digi International; CCL Label; Domino Amjet; Indusoft;, Gross Automation, which imports Westermo's products; Motoman, which is part of Yaskawa; and Yaskawa Electric America. The partners exhibited a variety of applicable solutions in tabletop displays at the press event. Some partners reportedly will have a private-label arrangement with Omron, while Omron will sell other products with brands showing.

Bauer adds that Omron's industrial automation division had worldwide sales of $2.3 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, which represented a 9% increase over the previous year. Industrial automation sales by Omron Electronics in the U.S. outperformed that figure with double-digit growth over the previous year. New products launched at Omron's press event included:

• CJ1W-NCF position controller, allowing up to 16-axis high-speed positioning with one controller, which reduces cabling cost and programming each positioning drive individually, Omron says.
• F210-ETN Ethernet vision sensor controller with onboard storage for compressed inspection images, which can be streamed via Ethernet to a remote PC or laptop for analysis and long-term storage without interfering with ongoing production output.
• Three new UHF-RFID starter kits that help companies meet growing demand for RFID labeling on cases and pallets entering the supply chain and retail marketplace, Omron says.
• DeviceNet safety controller, which is the first safety control device that can control multiple safety functions without need for a costly safety PLC, Omron says, thereby greatly reducing the cost of an integrated safety and control network.