Okuma completes two new facilities at Konan Plant to strengthen automation and assembly capabilities

Two new facilities that Okuma had been constructing at its Konan Plant in Konan City, Aichi Prefecture, have been completed. “Dream Site Engineered Solutions (DSES)” serves as a base for test machining and automation system assembly, while the “Global Innovation Center (GIC)” is dedicated to collaboration and co-creation with customers and peripheral equipment manufacturers. By consolidating automation system development and manufacturing at DSES, the company aims to strengthen assembly capacity for machine tools at its existing factories.

A highly secure environment

Partitions separate each bay at Dream Site Engineered Solutions to ensure confidentiality.

Okuma established DSES and GIC within its Konan Plant, holding a completion ceremony on April 28. Total investment amounted to approximately JPY 14 billion.

DSES serves as a hub for advanced test machining, automation technology development, and automation system assembly. The facility has a total floor area of 17,000 square meters, divided into bays measuring 6 meters by 10 meters each, accommodating up to 114 bays. Each bay is separated by partitions, enabling test machining and automation system demonstrations to take place in a highly secure environment.

President Dr. Atsushi Ieki explained: “In recent years, demand for advanced machining and automation technologies has been growing, particularly among customers in the 17 strategic sectors designated by the Japanese government. Security considerations are also becoming increasingly important across all of these fields.”

Each bay can be used flexibly in response to market trends — switching between test machining, automation system assembly, and machine tool assembly as needed. Currently, DSES is being used not only for automation systems, but also for the manufacture of multi-tasking machines, whose demand is increasing.

Previously, both machine tool bodies and automation systems were assembled at the main factory in Oguchi Town, Aichi Prefecture, and at the Kani Plant in Kani City, Gifu Prefecture. By consolidating automation system development and manufacturing at DSES — which tend to involve longer lead times — the company will also strengthen assembly capacity at both existing factories. Once DSES is fully operational, the company expects an annual production increase equivalent to 800 units.

A hub for collaboration and co-creation

The Communication Space inside Global Innovation Center.

GIC is a facility designed to deepen dialogue and co-creation with customers and peripheral equipment manufacturers, and to generate ideas for future manufacturing. The facility has a total floor area of 4,700 square meters. The first floor features a spacious “Communication Space,” equipped with large monitors displaying visions of the factory of the future.

The facility also includes a room dedicated to collecting and monitoring operational data from machine tools. For example, customers visiting DSES for demonstrations can be shown the operational status of the automation systems under construction, helping them form a concrete image of how a factory of the future powered by digital technology might operate and how co-creation could work in practice.

Dr. Ieki commented: “DSES and GIC, established through the largest investment in our company’s history, are core facilities that will support our efforts to enhance corporate value as we look toward 2030 and beyond.”