Feature: iREX2023 Vol.3 – Interview with Manabu Okahisa, GM, Robotics Division of Yaskawa Electric

December 5, 2023

Yaskawa Electric has set “Smart Manufacturing with i3-Mechatronics” as the theme for the 2023 International Robot Exhibition (iREX2023). The theme itself is actually the same as that of the previous exhibition. What is different is the content. Unlike the previous exhibition, where the focus was on presenting concepts, Yaskawa’s focus at iREX2023 was on presenting concrete solutions that visitors would find useful. Manabu Okahisa, General Manager of the company’s Robotics Division, said, “We offer ‘solutions’ in the form of robots to address the issues and problems faced by our customers. We want to show visitors what robots can do today”.

Contributing to society through the application of motors

Interview with Manabu Okahisa,
General Manager, Robotics Division of Yaskawa Electric

Exhibitions are valuable opportunities to gather information and needs from an unspecified number of visitors who may become customers in the future. We take the feedback from the visitors and use it to develop the technology and product, and reflect it in the next exhibition.

Our iREX2023 exhibit, with its emphasis on specificity to make it easier to communicate with visitors, is also based on the response to the previous exhibit, which focused on presenting concepts. While many visitors praised our concept, some said they were unsure how to apply it to their own companies at the previous exhibition.

Therefore, at iREX2023, we planned an exhibit that would let visitors feel the benefits of implementing robots. We are confident that those who watched our previous exhibition with a sense of anticipation could also have high expectations for this year’s exhibition. At the same time, we have actively communicated with visitors to gather information for the next opportunity.

The core of our company is to contribute to society through “motors and their applications”. In this sense, a 6-axis articulated robot is “a product of 6 servo motors connected together”, and the key is what kind of brains are used in combination with these motors. The latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence and digital twin, are just a means to an end, and it is important to use them to generate profits.

We provide as many solutions as our customers have problems, but our approach to the outside world is always to show the technologies and ideas that form the basis of our solutions. Internally, however, we must have a thorough understanding of the customer’s problems and carefully implement them one by one.