RightHand Robotics establishes Japan entity

RightHand Robotics, a leader in providing autonomous robotic piece-picking solutions, has announced the establishment of a new corporate entity in Japan, RightHand Robotics GK. The subsidiary will enable RightHand to better serve the fast-growing demand for robotic piece-picking in Japan and the rest of Asia Pacific.

As the world’s second-largest retail sector as well as the second-largest industrial robotics market, Japan represents a significant market opportunity for supply chain automation. RightHand’s first deployment in the country is with Paltac Corp., Japan’s largest wholesaler of consumer packaged goods. Paltac will introduce RightHand’s piece-picking solution to the Japanese market at the launch of its newest facility, RDC Saitama, on October 10, 2019. The warehouse, located in Sugito, Saitama Prefecture, stocks over 20,000 SKUs every year and is equipped with multiple RightPick workcells that can reliably pick and place a wide range of items at a high rate.

“It has been a pleasure working with RightHand Robotics on Japan’s first multi-robot RightPick installation,” said Masakazu Mikita, General Manager of Research and Development at Paltac Corporation. “Moving forward, we are expecting robotic piece-picking to play a key role in further optimizing the supply chain and providing the best customer experience for the delivery of daily necessity, cosmetic, health and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products.”

With over 20 years of experience introducing innovative US-based technologies into the Japanese market, Kensaburo Tamura has been named to lead RightHand Robotics GK, serving as Regional Head of Asia Pacific. Previously, he served as the Country Manager at Cloudera, Inc., a provider of Big Data and AI/ML software platforms.

“Expanding into the Japanese market with the establishment of RightHand Robotics GK is a major accomplishment for our team,” said Leif Jentoft, co-founder of RightHand Robotics. “Japan is a huge and expanding market for robotic piece-picking and having a presence there, under Mr. Tamura’s leadership, will increase our opportunities in Asia Pacific and play a pivotal role in our global growth.”