Omron UK

The UK arm of Japanese automation group Omron, based in Milton Keynes, offering robots, autonomous mobile robots and control systems.

About Omron UK

Omron UK supplies the equipment that automates factories. That includes industrial robots, autonomous intelligent vehicles (driverless carts that carry items around a site), sensors, controllers and safety systems. In a 2018 interview its UK general manager Mark Butters said Omron does not see itself as only a robot maker, but as a provider of integrated automation solutions, and that this is its biggest strength. The same article says the company is a long-standing supplier to British manufacturers.

We did not find a formal mission statement. What the 2018 article shows is the company's approach: invest locally, show customers what is possible, and stay in the UK. Mr Butters said Omron's global strategy involves building capability in each country, and that it intended to stay in the UK whatever the outcome of Brexit. We have only company statements of this kind and no independent view.

Omron UK's headquarters is in the Fox Milne area of Milton Keynes. The article says the company moved to the city in 2002, after 27 years in the UK at that point, and had signed a ten-year lease on its premises. A 600,000 pound robotics lab opened there in 2018. The lab lets customers test products at the proof-of-concept stage, and it shows Omron's industrial robots and autonomous vehicles working. It created five new jobs. The opening was performed by the Mayor of Milton Keynes, and local MP Mark Lancaster toured it beforehand.

Marketing manager Dan Rossek was also named in the report. We found no material on culture or on the UK headcount, so we say nothing about those. The lab itself suggests a hands-on culture, where customers bring a real problem and work with Omron engineers on a trial before buying.

Roles at a company like this include application engineers who design robot and vehicle systems, technical sales specialists, software and controls engineers, service staff, marketing and customer-support teams. Omron also works with certified partner companies called system integrators that build full machines for customers. If you enjoy electronics, computing and how things work, Milton Keynes is one of the UK centres where such roles can be found. The 2018 date means you should check Omron UK's website for its current structure.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Robots shown and tested in the Milton Keynes robotics lab.', 'title': 'Industrial robots'}
• {'desc': 'Driverless vehicles that move goods around a site.', 'title': 'Autonomous mobile robots'}
• {'desc': 'Sensors, controllers and safety systems supplied as complete solutions.', 'title': 'Integrated automation'}

Key facts

• UK headquarters in the Fox Milne area of Milton Keynes; in the UK for 27 years by 2002
• 600,000 pound robotics lab opened in 2018 at the headquarters, creating five jobs
• General manager UK: Mark Butters (2018)
• Works with certified system integrator partners in the UK

Website: industrial.omron.co.uk