Kyoto, Japan—OMRON Corporation (Headquarters: Shimogyo-Ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Yoshihito Yamada) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Microscan Systems, Inc. ("Microscan") on October 2, 2017 (U.S. local time). (See previous announcement of August 30, 2017 "OMRON to Acquire Microscan Systems, US-based Industrial Code Reader Company.") Headquartered in Renton, Washington, USA, Microscan manufactures and markets diverse industrial code reading devices, including barcode readers and 2D code readers. As of today, the company name has been changed to OMRON Microscan Systems, Inc. Looking forward, at this dawn of the IoT age, OMRON will strive to develop new code reading devices and comprehensive solutions by combining OMRON Microscan Systems, Inc.'s software technology, which delivers stable reading performance even in demanding conditions, with OMRON's extensive lines of control components and equipment. OMRON's product lineups range from input devices to output devices, as well as industrial robots and safety devices.

In response to the rapidly growing trend of assigning an ID code to each product or component throughout manufacturing sites of various industries, OMRON will work to advance control of manufacturing equipment and production lines by adding IoT capabilities to many objects on a manufacturing floor, including various components and machines. This will bring flexible automation to manufacturing floors to meet a diversity of consumer requirements.

Moreover, information from various objects read by code readers can be connected to "i-BELT," OMRON's IoT service platform. With this and other examples, OMRON will work with its client companies to accelerate the creation of "intelligent" manufacturing sites—a key to the realization of its "innovative-Automation!^*" concept. By so doing, OMRON aims to promote distribution and trading of "information of things" throughout society so that people across the world can benefit from the enhanced safety and security of products.

^* "innovative-Automation!"
Recently, OMRON has developed a manufacturing innovation concept, called "innovative-Automation!" With this concept, OMRON is currently committed to bringing innovation to manufacturing sites through three key innovations, or three "i's." Through these innovations, OMRON aims to enable significant productivity improvements in manufacturing sites in order to enhance high-value-added manufacturing. With the first "i" "integrated" (control evolution), OMRON will seek to advance automated control technology so that virtually any operator, even inexperienced operators, can effortlessly perform work that previously required the expertise of experienced workers. With the second "i" "intelligent" (development of intelligence by ICT), OMRON seeks to create constantly evolving equipment and production lines. By adopting a wide range of control devices and artificial intelligence (AI), machines can learn through experience and contribute to optimal maintenance. For the third "i," "interactive" (new harmonization between people and machines), OMRON will pursue the development of a new harmonious relationship between human operators and machines. Working together in the same workspace, machines will be able to assist human operators by recognizing human intentions and behavior.