Yaskawa UK

The UK arm of Japan's Yaskawa, a global maker of robots, drives and motion control, with its UK headquarters at Hillthorn Park in Sunderland.

About Yaskawa UK

Yaskawa UK is part of Yaskawa, a global supplier of drives, motion control and industrial robots. Drives are the electronic units that control how fast and powerfully motors turn, and they sit inside everything from lifts to production lines. Yaskawa's robots are used for welding, handling and assembly. The UK company sells and supports these products to manufacturers across Britain.

We did not find a formal mission statement. The company's own priorities, as described in a regional investment article about its UK site, are to become a more sustainable business, to future-proof its operations, to stay close to its customers and to keep growing in the UK and Europe. It said it planned to continue growing its headcount in the following year. These are company statements, and the article gives no date we could check.

Yaskawa UK's headquarters is a 35,000 square foot building at Hillthorn Park in Washington, Sunderland, next to the Nissan UK plant and close to the International Advanced Manufacturing Park. The article says the site is within an hour's drive of Newcastle International Airport. The same article says drives and motion products for the UK are made in Cumbernauld in Scotland, while a plant in Slovenia produces most of the robots needed in Europe. So the UK business combines selling, support and some manufacturing links.

We did not find culture material or named leaders on the pages we read. The location tells its own story: being next to a major car factory puts the team close to customers who use robots every day, and the North East has a strong tradition of engineering and advanced manufacturing. The company says it wants to stay close to customers, which suggests a service-focused way of working.

People employed in a company like this typically include application and sales engineers, service and repair engineers, drives and automation specialists, software and controls programmers, logistics and warehouse staff, and finance and administration teams. If you enjoy electronics, maths, physics or practical problem solving, robots and motion control are an area where those subjects turn into real machines. Check the company's website for the current structure of its UK team.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Robots for welding, handling, assembly and packing.', 'title': 'Industrial robots'}
• {'desc': 'Electronic units that control motors in factories and buildings.', 'title': 'Drives and motion control'}
• {'desc': 'UK sales, technical support and service for Yaskawa products.', 'title': 'Customer support'}

Key facts

• UK headquarters of 35,000 square feet at Hillthorn Park, Washington, Sunderland
• Located next to Nissan UK and near the International Advanced Manufacturing Park
• Drives and motion products made in Cumbernauld; most European robots made in Slovenia (per the article)
• Said it planned to keep growing its UK headcount (article undated)

Website: www.yaskawa.co.uk