In May 2022, FUSO GreenLab, Mitsubishi Fuso’s startup accelerator and open innovation platform concluded 17 pitching sessions with domestic businesses and startups.

The pitch sessions represented the second half of FUSO GreenLab’s inaugural event. The goal was to connect with external collaborators to co-develop or receive their services for factory automation solutions. The areas are in the field of robotics and AI.

FUSO partnered with the Kawasaki Business Incubation Center (KBIC) for this event. More than 100 participants joined the first online session. They listened to FUSO experts share about the two specific areas where innovative solutions are needed.

The first involves a concept for an automated picking robots with wireless connectivity, and the other relates to small parts assembly and inspection tasks.

Following the first session, FUSO received over 30 submissions addressing these challenges. Of those, 17 companies were invited for reverse pitches. Representatives came to Mitsubishi Fuso’s headquarters to talk directly with experts from our plant automation team.

Several companies signed non-disclosure agreements, with ongoing deeper exchanges for potential partnerships or technical exchanges. Besides the core topics, a few company’s services were referred to other departments in the production office.

Several interesting proposals FUSO received include automated robotics with object detecting AI, new IT tools for AI introduction, new logistics automation solutions, and consulting/prototyping services for automated assembly applications.

Companies that partner with Mitsubishi Fuso for co-development stand to enjoy certain valuable benefits. These include opportunities to access our BotLab facility and the Kitsuregawa proving grounds in Tochigi prefecture.

Collaborators can also have technical exchanges with our project teams including the Factory of the Future team. There is also the potential for referral to 170 international markets. This can extend to further collaborations within Daimler Truck, one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers.

This event is part of a wider effort to develop Mitsubishi Fuso’s Factory of the Future. The team is identifying opportunities to improve factory efficiency and safety.

They also seek to manufacture commercial vehicles with new smart tools, digitalization, automation solutions, and supporting devices for workers.

External collaborations aren’t limited to corporations, small businesses, and startups. In one instance, the MFTBC team successfully worked with university students to develop an AI algorithm for fully automated mobile robots.

However, beyond modernizing our factories FUSO is looking for innovations in a wide range of mobility-related fields including:

• Carbon trading
• Data-driven services
• EV ecosystem (battery, V2X, etc.)
• Smart wearables
• Image-based inspections

Stay tuned for future FUSO GreenLab events. We’ll be holding further pitching competitions in the future. One may be in your field of expertise.

If you have an innovative solution in these or other mobility-related or industrial automation areas, we’d love to hear from you. Please submit your pitch here.