JUKI to invest in XTIA and establish a technological partnership for upgrading its visual inspection machines

JUKI to invest in XTIA and establish a technological partnership for upgrading its visual inspection machines

JUKI Corporation (Head office: Tama City, Tokyo; President: Akira Kiyohara) announced today that it will make an investment in XTIA Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda City, Tokyo; President & CEO: Takao Yagi) totaling 200 million yen, and enter into a technological alliance with the company. This move is focused on expanding JUKI’s business in the automated inspection sector by incorporating into its visual inspection machines the innovative technology of XTIA.
As a manufacturer of mounting systems used for producing printed wiring boards (PWBs), JUKI has been providing automation solutions for more than 30 years. Because PWBs are one of the key components in electric/electronic equipment, smart phones, and many other products, a defective PWB leads to immediate failure of such devices. To prevent defective PWBs from slipping through inspections, JUKI has now commercialized a lineup of visual inspection machines backed by its high-speed image processing technology that allows two- and three-dimensional inspection of camera images.

In recent years, as the world has shifted more toward digitization and automation ― a trend referred to as “Industry 4.0” ― the manufacturing sector is seeing an increased demand for the automating of inspections previously performed by human eyes. In response, JUKI has been applying its visual inspection technology developed for PWBs to machinery parts in order to expand its business domain.

JUKI is in possession of sophisticated, automated, image processing technology. Fusing this inline inspection technology with XTIA’s multi-wavelength, straight-line laser technology should allow JUKI to commercialize the world’s first hybrid 3D inspection machine capable of examining components with more complex shapes. JUKI plans to apply the new technology to inline inspection of automobile components and other precision parts which require high-precision, high-speed processing. The two companies have already launched a project combining their technologies with the objective of achieving commercialization of said product within a year.

In 2015, to further utilize its manufacturing capabilities, JUKI launched its “Group Business,” through which the company develops and manufactures products for client manufacturers on a contractual basis. With this investment in XTIA, JUKI hopes to receive product manufacturing contracts from XTIA as well. Leveraging its time-tested manufacturing know-how and production management systems, JUKI will support the manufacturing aspect of XTIA, which has great growth potential.

●About XTIA Ltd. (formerly known as Optical Comb, Inc.)

Established in 2002, XTIA began as a technology start-up out of Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 2008, the company applied to measuring instruments the principle of optical comb technology, and developed a profilometer model in 2011. In April 2016, it successfully developed the world’s first inline, non-contact 3D profilometer using optical comb technology which can be used for total inspection. This technology has been adopted by many Japanese auto makers for automated inspection machines used for inline inspections in high-volume auto production.