Azbil: ‘Human-centered automation’ for the next generation

“Through the pursuit of ‘human-centered automation’, we aim to become a corporate group that contributes to the sustainable development of society.”

Kiyohiro Yamamoto, President and Group CEO, Azbil Corporation

Industrial production is undergoing an automation revolution, but this change must be human-centered if it is to benefit both businesses and the environment.

One of the companies at the forefront of this revolution is Japan’s Azbil. Founded in 1906, the company is made up of three business divisions: building automation and management, industrial automation of production sites, and life automation based around medical production bases and laboratories.

The common thread between these three divisions is a focus on human-centered automation, which company president Kiyohiro Yamamoto says is designed to “provide people with safety, comfort, and fulfillment.” An example of this is Azbil’s “early warning system” for production plants which predicts anomalies in advance, ensuring worker safety while reducing downtime and wasted energy. Azbil’s use of operational data allows it to create optimal working environments for plant operators, accounting for temperature, humidity, and other factors.

Its building automation solutions focus on the long-term, accounting for the building’s life cycle over the span of many years as well as the external environment. The buildings Azbil manages are connected in a 4,000-strong network which produces data to ensure quality and to provide a balance of comfort and energy saving.

The company has a presence across Asia, North America and Europe and is always looking for new partners especially in markets which require the energy-saving technology it provides. This expansion has been driven by Azbil’s dedication to combining human ingenuity with technology, and as Mr. Yamamoto says, “The objective of human-centered automation is to reveal the potential inherent within each employee.”