Shiseido tests humanoid robots on assembly line – a cosmetics industry first
By Canadian Packaging staff
Automation Design & Innovation General Robotics collaboration of humans and robots Kawada Industries Kawada Mechatronics Group Shiseido CompanyShiseido aiming to establish a new form of manufacturing through “collaboration of humans and robots”.
JAPAN—Global cosmetics giant Shiseido Company, Limited has introduced a pilot program deploying industrial humanoid robots on the assembly lines of makeup products at its Kakegawa factory in Shizuoka-ken, Japan starting from March 2017, for the first time in the world among cosmetics companies.
In this factory, one human worker and two humanoid robots work together to assemble various parts of varied shapes and materials, delivering finished products.
While humanoid robots cover the procedures that are hard to be automated with conventional machines and existing industrial robots, the human worker focuses on inspection of minor defects such as scratches, assuring the quality of products.
Through a “collaboration of humans and robots” Shiseido safeguards its future by providing against changes in the social environment such as declining workforce, and aims to establish a new form of manufacturing that responds to the market changes more swiftly and flexibly.
Shiseido says it will further develop and evolve this initiative to realize effective manufacturing and reduce the work load of on-site workers.
Going forward, Shiseido aims to further advance innovation in technology, enabling robots to team-up on more complex, high-dimensional operations by applying AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology.
The humanoid robots are designed and manufactured by the Mechatronics Group of the Japanese entity Kawada Industries, Inc. More company information available at www.global.kawada.jp/mechatronics.
Advertisement
