Yaskawa Electric, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of industrial robots and automation technologies, has sold 20 million AC servo motor sales to date, according to a press release on the company’s website.
The company has offered AC servo motors and controllers to a wide range of customers in Japan and overseas since 1983.
Yaskawa, which coined the term “mechatronics”, says “cumulative AC servo motor shipments reached 20 million units in August 2020”.
Yaskawa developped the prototype DC servo motor Minertia Motor in 1958 as the first company in the world, followed by the launch of the AC servo motor Series in 1983 and the new “Σ (Sigma) Series” in October 1992.
These AC servo drive has contributed to the evolution of the factory automation industry by a series of products incorporating innovative motion control technologies.
In February 2012, AC servo motor had shipped a total of 10 million units. In November 2013, the present core model “Σ-7 Series” was launched with the aim of added value from solely components to systems with a further improving safety and a consideration of the environment while keeping the world’s highest performance, and has been used by a number of customers.
Currently, various efforts for smart factories to realize improving production efficiency and quality as well as ensuring traceability are taken at production sites.
As stated in the long-term business plan “Vision 2025” for “Realization of a new industrial automation revolution”, Yaskawa has been proposing a solution concept “i³-Mechatronics” by adding “digital data management” to existing solutions and is developing and strengthening products to realize this concept.
Yaskawa’s AC servo drive is now an essential component for realizing smart factories where the servo motor itself functions as a sensor, in addition to the conventional high-speed and high-precision performance.
In order to manage digital data, it has enhanced functions such as detecting various data in the device and using it for real-time motion control. Yaskawa further enhances and evolve these functions.
In recent years, the range of applications has expanded beyond conventional industrial equipment, such as energy-saving equipment, mobile equipment, and medical and nursing care equipment. Yaskawa prepares for these demanded needs.
Furthermore, Yaskawa establishes R&D and production bases at 4 global locations such as the U.S., China, Europe and Japan, and sales bases in each region to strengthen the service system, thereby securing and keeping No.1 global share in response to diverse market needs.
