Israeli-Japanese Venture To Deploy Autonomous Mobile Robots In Japan

The joint Israeli-Japanese venture Musashi AI announced last week that it has successfully completed a proof of concept for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) at Suzuyo, a Japanese third party logistics company, in partnership with Israeli company 634AI, a Musashi Group affiliated company and the developer of Maestro, an industrial automation and mobility management software.

Japanese logistics conglomerate Suzuyo successfully tested Musashi AI’s AMRs powered by Maestro, a platform-agnostic control tower for logistics automation developed by 634AI.

The AMR autonomously moved pallets in the facility from one location to another smoothly and efficiently, a statement from Musashi AI said. The proof of concept was performed in Suzuyo’s Shinshizuoka distribution center in Shizuoka, a Japanese prefecture.

The companies are currently engaged in scale-up discussions to deploy 634AI’s cutting-edge Maestro navigation and fleet management software with Musashi AI’s AMRs across Suzuyo’s distribution centers in Japan.

634AI and Musashi AI have partnered since mid-2019 to leverage the unique combination of Israeli AI and computer vision software technology with Japanese world-renowned hardware engineering and industrial expertise, in order to bring practical and state-of-the-art solutions to the Japanese market.

Musashi AI’s core business is AI visual inspection. while 634AI’s core business is software development related to AMR. The companies said they will further increase the speed of their R&D and commercial cooperation in the future.

“We are honored to be partnering with Musashi and Suzuyo, two global industrial giants, to introduce the sizable benefits of our Maestro software system,” said Onn Fenig, CEO of 634AI, “This proof of concept has been another excellent showcase of our Maestro software, demonstrating its unique capabilities for orchestrating indoor logistics while providing insightful information to facilitate safe and effective floor operations. We are humbled and proud that Suzuyo is considering adopting our Maestro AMR navigation and fleet management software in their facilities across Japan.”

Murata Sota, CEO of Musashi AI says the company’s proprietary AMR technology, which is fully compatible with 634AIs Maestro industrial mobility management software, “is just another example of our vision to introduce practical solutions that solve real human problems.”

“In a world of labor shortage, autonomous logistics becomes a viable solution for many companies wanting to increase their resilience and business continuity, especially following a global pandemic such as COVID-19,” Sota adds.

“We are always thinking about improving the safety, quality, and productivity of our distribution centers and providing our customers with a high level of distribution service,” said Ken Kawashima, general manager of 3PL Business Development Department at Suzuyo, “We believe Maestro offers a virtually unique ability to manage AMRs, and allows humans and robots to work together in sophisticated hybrid environments. Both Musashi AI and 634AI have the power to make the world’s logistics network function more efficiently than ever. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with these companies.”