Through the new facility, Hitachi aims to foster the adoption of smart factory technology in Asia
Japanese firm Hitachi has opened a digital services hub in Thailand with the aim of helping Asian companies to cut costs through the implementation of smart factory technology, Japanese press reported.
The company’s Lumada Center, which is located in an industrial park east of Bangkok in Chonburi Province, currently employs nearly 50 employees. The new facility will market factory solutions using the internet of things to manufacturers throughout Southeast Asia.
Hitachi believes services related to the IoT will allow the firm to increase revenues in the region.
“The centre will also transfer knowledge and know-how to Thai staff in order to provide IoT solutions to customers in the region. The centre can contribute smart solutions across domains of manufacturing, urban development, healthcare, logistics, factories, smart cities and home appliances across the country and region,” said Hitachi’s CEO Toshiaki Higashihara.
In return for the use of Lumada services, Hitachi collects a portion of customers’ cost savings from the platform as well as additional fees. The Japanese firm also sells the sensors, cameras and other devices needed to gather factory data, as well as software for managing that data.
In an initial stage, Hitachi invested over USD $1.5 million in its Lumada Centre Southeast Asia. The Japanese firm said it will make additional investments in the centre to make it a hub for various industries in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
In 2016, Hitachi launched Lumada, an IoT core platform which integrates commercial technologies from across Hitachi’s portfolio, Lumada is an IoT core platform with an open and adaptable architecture that simplifies IoT solution creation and customization, the Japanese firm said.
The platform features data orchestration, streaming analytics, content intelligence, simulation models, and other Hitachi software technologies.
In related news, Hitachi signed a memorandum of understanding to offer IoT services to a unit of Thai materials maker Siam Cement, aiming to reduce energy consumption at cement plants and optimize transport. Hitachi solutions will be marketed to other companies affiliated with Siam Cement as well, including in the logistics, infrastructure and medical care fields.
