I. From CNC system to robot king: the ultimate philosophy of a technology maniac
Start-up and core technology breakthrough (1956-1974)
In 1956, Fujitsu engineer Kiyoemon Inaba led a team to establish FANUC (Fujitsu Automatic CNC). This engineer, known as the "Godfather of Japanese Robots", once made a bold statement: "The ultimate goal of the factory is not to turn on even a light."
1965: Launched Japan's first commercial CNC system FANUC 220, which increased the machining accuracy of machine tools to micron level and subverted the traditional mechanical control mode.
1972: Independent from Fujitsu, launched the first hydraulic drive industrial robot ROBOT-MODEL 1, specializing in automobile parts handling, and the operating efficiency is 5 times higher than that of manual labor.
1974: A breakthrough was developed in the development of a fully electric servo motor to replace the traditional hydraulic drive system, reducing energy consumption by 40%, and increasing accuracy to ±0.02 mm, laying the foundation for global robot motion control standards.
The rise of the yellow empire (1980s)
In 1982, FANUC changed the robot's paint to the iconic bright yellow, symbolizing efficiency and reliability. In the same year, the α series servo motor was launched, with a 50% reduction in size and a 30% increase in torque density, becoming the "heart" of 90% of industrial robots in the world.
Industry comparison: During the same period, the average trouble-free time of European robots was 12,000 hours, while FANUC robots reached 80,000 hours (equivalent to 9 years of continuous work), with a failure rate of only 0.008 times/year.
II. The global product matrix: How the four trump cards dominate the industry
1. M series: the steel giant arm of heavy industry
M-2000iA/2300: The world's strongest load-bearing robot, which can accurately grasp 2.3 tons of objects (equivalent to a small truck) and is used for battery pack assembly at Tesla's Berlin factory.
M-710iC/50: Automotive welding expert, 6-axis linkage speed is 15% faster than competitors, weld accuracy is 0.05 mm, and Volkswagen production lines use more than 5,000 units.
2. LR Mate series: precision-made "embroidery hands"
LR Mate 200iD: The world's lightest 6-axis robot (weight 26kg), repeated positioning accuracy ±0.01 mm, iPhone camera module assembly yield rate of 99.999%.
Application case: Foxconn's Shenzhen factory deploys 3,000 LR Mates, each completing 24,000 precision plug-ins per day, reducing labor costs by 70%.
3. CR Series: The Power Revolution of Collaborative Robots
CR-35iA: The world's first 35kg large-load collaborative robot, the tactile sensor can sense 0.1 Newton resistance (equivalent to the pressure of a feather), and the emergency braking time is only 0.2 seconds.
Scenario breakthrough: Honda factory uses it to transport engine cylinders, workers and robots share 2m² space, and the accident rate is zero.
4. SCARA Series: The Secret of the Speed King
SR-12iA: A planar joint robot that completes the chip pick-and-place cycle in 0.29 seconds, 20 times faster than human operation. The daily output of Intel's chip packaging line exceeds 1 million pieces.
III. Global layout: "Unmanned Iron Curtain" from Yamanashi, Japan to Chongqing, China
1. Global factory construction strategy
Michigan, USA (1982): Serving General Motors, achieving 95% automation rate of welding lines, reducing the production cost of a single vehicle by $300.
Shanghai, China (2002): Production capacity reaches 110,000 units in 2022, accounting for 23% of China's industrial robot market. After BYD's battery production line adopts FANUC robots, the battery cell assembly speed is increased to 0.8 seconds per unit.
2. "Dark Factory" Myth: Robots Make Robots
The headquarters factory in Yamanashi, Japan has achieved:
720 hours of unmanned production: 1,000 FANUC robots independently complete the entire process from parts processing to whole machine testing.
Zero inventory management: Through real-time scheduling through the FIELD system, the material turnover time is compressed from 7 days to 2 hours.
Extreme energy efficiency: Each robot consumes only 32kWh of energy per production, which is 65% lower than traditional factories.
Industry comparison: The average output value per capita of similar factories in Germany is €250,000/year, while the average output value per capita of FANUC's dark factory is €4.2 million/year.
IV. Intelligent future: 5G+AI reconstructs manufacturing rules
1. FIELD ecosystem: the "super brain" of the industrial Internet of Things
Real-time optimization: connecting robots, machine tools, and AGVs, a gearbox factory compressed the tool change time from 43 seconds to 9 seconds through FIELD.
Predictive maintenance: AI analyzes 100,000 sets of motor vibration data, with a fault warning accuracy of 99.3%, reducing downtime losses by $1.8 million/year.
2. 5G+machine vision revolution
Defect detection: A robot equipped with a 5G module can identify 0.005mm scratches through a 20-megapixel camera, which is 50 times faster than in the 4G era.
AR remote operation and maintenance: Engineers wear HoloLens to guide Brazilian factories in maintenance, and the response time is shortened from 72 hours to 20 minutes.
3. Zero-carbon strategy: the ambition of green robots
Energy regeneration technology: The robot recycles electricity when braking, saving 4,000 kWh per unit per year, and Tesla's Shanghai factory saves $520,000 in electricity bills per year.
Hydrogen power experiment: The M-1000iA driven by hydrogen fuel cells will be put into trial operation in 2023, with zero carbon emissions.
Conclusion: The survival rules behind extreme efficiency
FANUC builds a moat with "technological closure" (self-developed servo motors, reducers, and controllers), and uses "unmanned production" to reduce costs to 60% of its competitors. Its global gross profit margin of 53% (far exceeding ABB's 35%) confirms Seiuemon Inaba's famous saying: "Efficiency is the only currency in the industrial world."
I. From CNC system to robot king: the ultimate philosophy of a technology maniac
Start-up and core technology breakthrough (1956-1974)
In 1956, Fujitsu engineer Kiyoemon Inaba led a team to establish FANUC (Fujitsu Automatic CNC). This engineer, known as the "Godfather of Japanese Robots", once made a bold statement: "The ultimate goal of the factory is not to turn on even a light."
1965: Launched Japan's first commercial CNC system FANUC 220, which increased the machining accuracy of machine tools to micron level and subverted the traditional mechanical control mode.
1972: Independent from Fujitsu, launched the first hydraulic drive industrial robot ROBOT-MODEL 1, specializing in automobile parts handling, and the operating efficiency is 5 times higher than that of manual labor.
1974: A breakthrough was developed in the development of a fully electric servo motor to replace the traditional hydraulic drive system, reducing energy consumption by 40%, and increasing accuracy to ±0.02 mm, laying the foundation for global robot motion control standards.
The rise of the yellow empire (1980s)
In 1982, FANUC changed the robot's paint to the iconic bright yellow, symbolizing efficiency and reliability. In the same year, the α series servo motor was launched, with a 50% reduction in size and a 30% increase in torque density, becoming the "heart" of 90% of industrial robots in the world.
Industry comparison: During the same period, the average trouble-free time of European robots was 12,000 hours, while FANUC robots reached 80,000 hours (equivalent to 9 years of continuous work), with a failure rate of only 0.008 times/year.
II. The global product matrix: How the four trump cards dominate the industry
1. M series: the steel giant arm of heavy industry
M-2000iA/2300: The world's strongest load-bearing robot, which can accurately grasp 2.3 tons of objects (equivalent to a small truck) and is used for battery pack assembly at Tesla's Berlin factory.
M-710iC/50: Automotive welding expert, 6-axis linkage speed is 15% faster than competitors, weld accuracy is 0.05 mm, and Volkswagen production lines use more than 5,000 units.
2. LR Mate series: precision-made "embroidery hands"
LR Mate 200iD: The world's lightest 6-axis robot (weight 26kg), repeated positioning accuracy ±0.01 mm, iPhone camera module assembly yield rate of 99.999%.
Application case: Foxconn's Shenzhen factory deploys 3,000 LR Mates, each completing 24,000 precision plug-ins per day, reducing labor costs by 70%.
3. CR Series: The Power Revolution of Collaborative Robots
CR-35iA: The world's first 35kg large-load collaborative robot, the tactile sensor can sense 0.1 Newton resistance (equivalent to the pressure of a feather), and the emergency braking time is only 0.2 seconds.
Scenario breakthrough: Honda factory uses it to transport engine cylinders, workers and robots share 2m² space, and the accident rate is zero.
4. SCARA Series: The Secret of the Speed King
SR-12iA: A planar joint robot that completes the chip pick-and-place cycle in 0.29 seconds, 20 times faster than human operation. The daily output of Intel's chip packaging line exceeds 1 million pieces.
III. Global layout: "Unmanned Iron Curtain" from Yamanashi, Japan to Chongqing, China
1. Global factory construction strategy
Michigan, USA (1982): Serving General Motors, achieving 95% automation rate of welding lines, reducing the production cost of a single vehicle by $300.
Shanghai, China (2002): Production capacity reaches 110,000 units in 2022, accounting for 23% of China's industrial robot market. After BYD's battery production line adopts FANUC robots, the battery cell assembly speed is increased to 0.8 seconds per unit.
2. "Dark Factory" Myth: Robots Make Robots
The headquarters factory in Yamanashi, Japan has achieved:
720 hours of unmanned production: 1,000 FANUC robots independently complete the entire process from parts processing to whole machine testing.
Zero inventory management: Through real-time scheduling through the FIELD system, the material turnover time is compressed from 7 days to 2 hours.
Extreme energy efficiency: Each robot consumes only 32kWh of energy per production, which is 65% lower than traditional factories.
Industry comparison: The average output value per capita of similar factories in Germany is €250,000/year, while the average output value per capita of FANUC's dark factory is €4.2 million/year.
IV. Intelligent future: 5G+AI reconstructs manufacturing rules
1. FIELD ecosystem: the "super brain" of the industrial Internet of Things
Real-time optimization: connecting robots, machine tools, and AGVs, a gearbox factory compressed the tool change time from 43 seconds to 9 seconds through FIELD.
Predictive maintenance: AI analyzes 100,000 sets of motor vibration data, with a fault warning accuracy of 99.3%, reducing downtime losses by $1.8 million/year.
2. 5G+machine vision revolution
Defect detection: A robot equipped with a 5G module can identify 0.005mm scratches through a 20-megapixel camera, which is 50 times faster than in the 4G era.
AR remote operation and maintenance: Engineers wear HoloLens to guide Brazilian factories in maintenance, and the response time is shortened from 72 hours to 20 minutes.
3. Zero-carbon strategy: the ambition of green robots
Energy regeneration technology: The robot recycles electricity when braking, saving 4,000 kWh per unit per year, and Tesla's Shanghai factory saves $520,000 in electricity bills per year.
Hydrogen power experiment: The M-1000iA driven by hydrogen fuel cells will be put into trial operation in 2023, with zero carbon emissions.
Conclusion: The survival rules behind extreme efficiency
FANUC builds a moat with "technological closure" (self-developed servo motors, reducers, and controllers), and uses "unmanned production" to reduce costs to 60% of its competitors. Its global gross profit margin of 53% (far exceeding ABB's 35%) confirms Seiuemon Inaba's famous saying: "Efficiency is the only currency in the industrial world."
