Dexterity, a provider of robotic solutions for a variety of industries, has agreed a strategic partnership with the Sumitomo Corporation to install 1,500 Dexterity-powered robots in warehouses across Japan.
Sumitomo Corporation, a Japan-based Fortune 500 multinational, signed an exclusive distributorship agreement in Japan with Dexterity to push into the Robots as a Service (RaaS) business in Japanese warehouses.
Prior to signing this distribution agreement, Sumitomo invested in Dexterity in 2020 through Presidio Ventures, Sumitomo’s US-based corporate venture capital arm.
Using Dexterity’s SaaS-based robotic intelligence platform, will help customer benefit from full task robots – standard industrial robot arms equipped with Dexterity’s intelligence software that helps them solve the toughest to automate jobs in the warehouse.
Dexterity’s full-stack robotic platform provides robots machine learning-enforced capabilities to help them build multi-SKU pallets on the fly, singulate and induct messy flows of parcels and bags, as well as picking and packing easily damaged items like bread and cake.
To date, Dexterity’s engineers have developed, tested, and overseen the installation of all its robots, resulting in more than 40 million goods picked in production at warehouses across the US.
Working together with Sumitomo will expand access to full task robots in Japan and ensure these systems will fit within existing Japanese warehouse workflows.
Samir Menon, Dexterity CEO, says: “The full task robots we have deployed have only increased demand for flexible automation that can operate in existing workflows and infrastructure.
“Partnering with Sumitomo will accelerate Dexterity’s customers in getting FTE robot systems up and running in their facilities.”
In addition to working with Dexterity to deploy robots with Japanese customers, Sumitomo will also work with Dexterity to open a demo facility in Japan. Opening in October 2022, the facility will demonstrate to Japanese supply chain leaders how inbound and outbound materials at a warehouse can be connected with intelligent robots.
Sumitomo plans to deploy Dexterity’s parcel singulation and induction solution with its first Japanese customer by Q1 2023.
The agreement with Sumitomo follows news that Dematic, one of the premier providers of supply chain solutions, has partnered with Dexterity to expand deployments in North America and Europe.
