Omron Builds R&D Center

TOKYO -- As part of its celebration marking 70 years since its establishment, construction of Omron's new Keihanna Technology Innovation Center in Kansai Science City (region in western Japan encompassing parts of Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara) will be completed today, March 24. This Center, Omron's largest R&D facility, will play a significant role in creating technology that supports Omron Group's core competence Sensing & Control. The Center will begin operations from May 6. The Keihanna Technology Innovation Center, coexisting in a peaceful atmosphere and resting on a wide ground area of about 72,000 m2, is comprised of three floors above ground and one floor below, each measuring 200 meters north-south and 75 meters east-west for a total floor space of 30,000 m2. In pursuing the consolidation of geographically dispersed research laboratories, Omron has combined research functions from each of four central labs (currently located in Nagaoka, Tsukuba, Kyoto, and Kusatsu cities) into the Technology Innovation Center. Along with building the latest research facility, Omron aims to increase the fruits of research and development by strengthening the synergy effect of in-company R&D. Moreover, Omron will take advantage of conditions intrinsic to Kansai Science City, striving for the "generation of value that astonishes" through collaborative innovation with advanced research organizations and corporate research labs in the surrounding area. When in the near future sensors can connect to networks, new applications providing safety, peace of mind, and comfort will be born, tremendously transforming our daily lives. Aiming for the realization of this kind of society, Omron is working to improve its technological strengths in software engineering while engaging in R&D in sensing technology and control technology. Further, the Technology Innovation Center contains a 2,400 m2 clean room. For developments that utilize fine processing technology, such as MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) products and optical related devices, samples can be supplied from R&D to determine whether there is enough justification to bring them to the business level. Omron Corp.