In April 2022, Toyota Industries Corporation (President: Akira Onishi) and Nagoya Institute of Technology (President: Takatoshi Kinoshita) opened the TICO Smart Industries Laboratory at Nagoya Institute of Technology to start joint research on elemental technologies for making plants and warehouses smart.

In order to respond to the increasingly serious labor shortage and diversifying customer needs, plants and warehouses are required to evolve into being more compact, flexible, and highly efficient. Another important issue is to address decarbonization.

The newly established research institute will conduct advanced development of elemental technologies necessary for smarter plants and warehouses by combining the plant management capabilities and manufacturing expertise possessed by Toyota Industries with the data analysis and communication technologies held by Nagoya Institute of Technology.

Specifically, under the three themes of (1) Connected, (2) Layout-free, and (3) Carbon neutrality, development of communication technology for transmitting and receiving data throughout a building, power supply technology that does not restrict where equipment is installed, and energy management technology for minimizing and optimizing power consumption in plants and warehouses will be carried out, and demonstration experiments will be conducted at the Obu Plant of Toyota Industries.

１． Details of Research

(1) Elemental technologies for realizing connected plants and warehouses
(2) Elemental technologies for achieving layout-free plants and warehouses
(3) Elemental technologies for establishing overall management of plants and warehouses to achieve carbon neutrality

２．Outline of the TICO Smart Industries Laboratory

Director ： Osamu Eryu (Executive Director / Vice President of Nagoya Institute of Technology)
Deputy-Director： Shogo Mori (Project General Manager of Toyota Industries Corporation / Professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology)
Research period： April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025

Contact

Organization for Co-Creation Research and Social Contributions,Nagoya Institute of Technology
Associate Professor Takuma Yano
TEL : +81-52-735-5201
Email: yano.takuma[at]nitech.ac.jp

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