Hitachi's JR Automation adds support with MA acquisition

United Kingdom-based Hitachi Ltd. announced Sept. 30 that it had completed acquisition of Sankt Leon-Rot, Germany-headquartered automation solutions specialist MA micro automation GmbH, which now becomes part of the operations of another Hitachi subsidiary, Holland, Mich.-based JR Automation.

In addition to its German headquarters, MA has facilities in Alpharetta, Ga., and in Singapore.

JR also has a Singapore facility, plus facilities in France, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.

MA CEO Joachim Hardt said there has always been trust between the companies, "right from the beginning." He describes MA as having a focus on applications in injection molding, especially involving high speed and value in medical devices produced in molds with as many as 64 cavities.

But he says MA has a strategy to move into other areas, which will now be easier by working more closely with JR. He stresses the importance of being "local," as "a lot of our customers have to ship their products over the ocean."

While Hardt refers to a large overlap of MA and JR activities, JR CEO Dave De Graaf stated both companies have different weaknesses, so putting the companies together is the best solution for the customer.

De Graaf says JR works in "niche automation for difficult solutions." The acquisition works well for JR, for example, "as the European market is a key area for us."

"Where customers had sometimes to work separately with each company, now they really only have to deal with one," he added.

JR automation case studies include a number in plastics processing. It's customer See3, for example, needed to produce contact lenses in an oxygen-free environment. This involves the introduction of carriers and mold halves, dispensing liquid and transporting components in a production environment with that has oxygen content at or below 200 parts per million, yet ensuring maintaining Class 1000 cleanliness.

An example from MA shows how it applied automation to Bensheim, Germany-based precision molder Sanner GmbH with its Ceres POC system, referred to here in general to "patient-oriented applications" in vitro diagnostic consumables such as pipette tips and disposable contact lens production.

In Sanner's case, POC ensures assembly of test cartridges with up to three test strips within 750 millis seconds per cartridge. A closely controlled press force combines upper and lower cartridge parts to form a finished test cartridge.

Hitachi's interest in the acquisition is very much centered on expanding the use of its "Robotic SI" industrial robots, which need a large amount of data to connect the shop floor with the "top floor" in order to achieve "overall optimization."

With JR Automation established in 1980, Hitachi acquired it already in 2019, as part of its strategy to offer a seamless connection between the physical and cyberspace for industrial manufacturers.

With 2,000 employees and 21 manufacturing facilities worldwide, JR is much larger than MA, which was established in 2003 and has 200 employees.