OMRON Corporation (Headquarters: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Yoshihito Yamada) today announced the establishment of an Automation Center (ATC) in Seoul, Republic of Korea (South Korea) by OMRON Electronics Korea Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea; President: Masahiko Kono), which is responsible for sales of factory automation(FA) equipment and customer support services in that country. This ATC, which is the company's eighth such facility worldwide, has been established for the purpose of collaborating with South Korean customers to resolve production floor issues, through use of OMRON automation technology.

Showcasing OMRON's broad portfolio of unique FA equipment, ATCs are furnished with equipment and actual products for demonstrations, along with training rooms. They provide control applications to resolve manufacturing issues faced by customers. OMRON has sited ATCs in key areas and countries where industry is at an advanced level so that they can, on a global basis, constantly share the latest technology and knowhow related to FA along with information on local standards. By doing so, OMRON keeps its customers up-to-date with the latest control knowhow and solutions.

Currently, labor costs are soaring in South Korea and companies are accelerating globalization of their production activities. As a consequence, demand for introduction of FA technology, including active use of industrial robots, continues to surge amid efforts to enhance productivity and assure earnings. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to bolster research and development activities aimed at technical innovation among OMRON customers, especially leading manufacturers, and the "smart factory" campaign, a government initiative, is getting underway. Against this backdrop, OMRON will utilize ATC Korea as its core facility for providing timely, concrete solutions to issues on production floors, and for supporting development of human resources in the field of production engineering to handle control equipment, whilst presenting a blueprint for the manufacturing of the future. Thus, working with South Korean customers, OMRON will help to usher in the world's most advanced manufacturing.

The main roles of ATC Korea are:

• Provision of support for introduction and construction of leading-edge automation technology on production floors
• Joint verification, in collaboration with customers, using actual equipment to resolve on-site issues
• Development of control application software to assist with resolution of on-site issues
• Application development and provision of training at the Robotics Laboratories