Orix

Robot rental booming in Japan

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• published: 29 Apr 2017
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(24 Apr 2017) LEADIN A Japanese company has opened a robot rental business so customers can try a robot before they buy. ORIX Rentec has a fleet of different robots for hire, including humanoid secretaries and a robotic arm that can make dumplings. STORYLINE: Welcome to the future of robotics. This NAO humanoid robot is just one of many different robots you can now rent in Japan. ORIX Rentec Corporation is a subsidiary of ORIX, a financial services group based in Tokyo which specialises in leasing, lending and rentals of all kinds. In 2016 ORIX Rentec started its robot rental service with just one robot. The business quickly expanded and now it offers a wide range of robots. Typically customers can rent the robots for periods of six months at a time with the option of then buying or renewing the rental up to three times. This YuMi robot from ABB is simulating the motions of a swimmer and can be programmed for many different tasks. "In the beginning we focused on industrial type robots like YuMi here. This is the robot we started with. Then we gradually increased our line up and now we offer 14 robots from 8 different manufacturers," says General Manager, Hideaki Togawa. The rental fees are relatively high, but the company says the service they provide helps ensure that customers have access to the latest state-of-the-art robots. "Depending on the type of robot, we have different rental packages we offer our customers. For example in the case of industrial robots, we usually have a 6-month trial package which is discounted, the idea being that the client can use that time to carefully evaluate the robot," says Togawa. The company is expecting further growth in the robot rental sector and is planning accordingly. So far it has rented more than 200 robots. Half of its business has come through the web with the rest through media and word of mouth. Currently the company only lends to other companies, but due to the high number of requests from individuals, it is considering expanding its service further in the future. "Initially we thought the robots we had selected would be of interest mainly to companies in the cosmetic, medical and food sector, but actually we have received enquiries by a large variety of companies," says Togawa. "70 percent of our customers are people who've never used robots before. With those customers in mind, we have 5 engineers on our team who can teach, advise, and do a risk assessment for our customers." The new laboratory has been successful in helping industry to introduce robots. The company says 150 companies and 320 individuals have visited the lab since it opened on 31 January 2017. A team of 5 engineers are on hand to assist customers with technical aspects. A one day training session is held with every new client. "When someone rents a robot from us we set aside a full day with them to explain about the robot and to teach how it can be programmed. After this one day session with us, our customers have enough knowledge to begin handling the robot themselves," says engineer, Nobuhiko Ohno. Once a request has been made, depending on what they have in stock, Orix says it can deliver a robot within 7-10 days. It also offers a risk assessment where the feasibility of requests are considered. According to Togawa, a restaurant asked for a robot that could make sushi. Because the rice for sushi is wet and the robots are not waterproof, the company deemed this to be an unsuitable plan and advised the customer accordingly. Japan's current demographics point to an increase in demand in assistant robots for the elderly, but Orix has so far focused mainly on industrial robots. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/11be397539b5e2531a2ee8a4e69127a8 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork