With a commitment to its employees, customers and community, Kawasaki Robotics Inc., strives to provide the best in robotic solutions.

With a commitment to its employees, customers and community, Kawasaki Robotics Inc. strives to provide the best in robotic solutions. The company describes itself as a leading supplier of industrial robots and automation systems with robot payloads ranging from 3 kilograms to 500 kilograms.

Kawasaki Robotics services a wide range of industries and applications and has more than 16,000 units installed in North America and more than 64,000 units installed worldwide. As Sales Manager Bob Rochelle explains, the company develops systems that help customers surmount various challenges. “Our service and support is the item that our customers remark makes them most happy to be our customers,” he notes.

Each case must be carefully considered, he explains. For some customers, the solution lies in a single, stand-alone robot, he notes. “For others, the solution is far more complex. In this case, Kawasaki Robotics has the capability to design, assemble, test and run off an entire turnkey system offering comprehensive project management from concept to implementation.” Kawasaki Robotics' customers include Ford, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Federal Mogul, Alcoa, Metaldyne, Mahle, TRW and Caterpillar.

Headquartered in Wixom, Mich., Kawasaki Robotics is owned by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) Ltd. KHI's North American Training Center is also located in Wixom, but it operates satellite offices throughout North America. “Most recently, we moved to the new facility in Wixom because our business has expanded [so much] that we needed more space,” Rochelle notes.

“Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan started in the industrial robotics industry by building the original hydraulic robots under license to Unimation,” he explains. “Kawasaki developed the first all-electric robot in 1986. We are one of the two original robot manufacturers left in the world and are one of the big four in the robotics industry worldwide.”

KHI was founded as a shipbuilder in 1896. Today, it is involved in R&D, engineering, manufacturing and service-oriented tasks. It operates 21 manufacturing facilities worldwide; four in the United States and one in the UK. Kawasaki entered the robotic business in 1968 with a technology license agreement with Unimation and started manufacturing and selling robots in Japan.

“Many of our solutions are through the integrator network with support from Kawasaki engineering and sales,” Rochelle says. “In-house, we provide very high-tech welding systems, some material-handling systems and support for the integrator's in the field. At our headquarters, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, we recently developed a new technology to join light alloy sheet metal parts that has drawn some interest from a variety of customers.”

Rochelle says the company plans to introduce additional technology to augment sales of its core products, the industrial robots. “We are exploring additional markets and applications where robotics may be applicable,” he says.

Stimulating Environment
KHI employs nearly 29,000 people worldwide and has a sales volume of more than $10.5 billion. KHI's robot division is part of its consumer products and machinery group. “We have a multicultural employee base and as a result, there is a diversity of personalities within an otherwise highly technical environment that provides stimulation,” Rochelle states.

Kawasaki Robotics says its greatest resource is its employees. Rochelle says the company strives to maintain a pleasant working environment where employees are continually challenged and trained in the latest technology. “The company attitude is that of a smaller company such that we wear different hats and are able to perform tasks that allow variety in our daily routine,” he says.

Meeting Requirements
As a leader in robot installations worldwide, the company says, its F Series, Z Series, M Series, MD/ZD and K Series robots offers payload capacities from 3 kilograms to 500 kilograms for light, medium and heavy payloads and high-speed, high-accuracy applications.

The company's robot controllers, it notes, “satisfy the requirements of any robotic application. As a world leader in robotics, Kawasaki's innovation in controller technology provides our customers with the controller capabilities they require in today's competitive marketplace.”

Kawasaki Robotics says it continues to be responsive to the needs of its customers by developing and offering products that provide a good fit to their automation solutions. These products are engineered to the same high standards as its other robot products and are a direct result of Kawasaki responding to requirements of the marketplace, the company states.

Rochelle says Kawasaki Robotics is among the leaders in the manufacture and installation of robots worldwide with more than 63,000 robots installed. Its robots are designed in Japan and manufactured in Japan and Lincoln, Neb.  

©2006 Schofield Media Ltd.