Why Japan’s Automation Inc is indispensable to global industry

A little-known pinch-point in the world’s supply chains?

Some of?the new foreign demand is the result of the world's insatiable hunger for computer chips.?SMC, which sells pneumatic?control devices to chip-makers, has seen its business boom,especially as places including America and Europe strive to bring more semiconductor production home, says Masahiro Ota, who sits on SMC's board.?Lasertec?enjoys a near-monopoly on inspection tools for the most advanced semiconductor photomasks一plates through which circuit patterns are etched onto silicon wafers.?Its share price has ballooned four-fold since the start of 2020,making it one of the best-performing blue-chip stocks?in Asia.?Keyence's precision sensors are likewise crucial for the detection of flaws in semiconductor Surfaces.

Insatiable /?n?se???bl/ adj.不知足的；無法滿足的?? an insatiable appetite/curiosity/thirst 永不滿足的食欲╱好奇心╱渴望

computer chip：電腦芯片

Pneumatic /nju??m?t?k/adj. 1.充氣的??a pneumatic tyre 充氣輪胎；2. 由壓縮空氣操作的；氣動的；風動的??pneumatic tools 風動工具

Photo-mask?：光罩；[電子] 光掩模

Etch?/et?/1.蝕刻，鑿出（玻璃、金屬等上的文字或圖畫）?a glass tankard with his initials etched on it 刻有他姓名首字母的玻璃大酒杯；2.（臉上）流露出??Tiredness was etched on his face. 從他的臉上可以看出他疲憊不堪。3.銘刻；畫出…的輪廓??a mountain etched (= having a clear outline) against the sky 在天空映襯下輪廓清晰的山；4. BE ETCHED ON YOUR ?HEART/?MEMORY/?MIND：銘記在心；永志不忘；牢記心頭

blue-chip stocks：藍籌股，藍籌股是指具有穩(wěn)定的盈余記錄，沒有巨大負債的股票。

wafer/?we?f?(r)/ n. 1.威化餅，薄脆餅（常與冰激凌同吃）2. 圣餅；圣體；面餅；3.~ (of sth) a very thin piece of sth 薄片

The companies'?devices are, of course, also handy in other sectors. Fanuc,?which makes large factory-floor robotic arms, has long been a fixture of car assembly lines. Mike Cicco,who runs Fanuc's American operations, notes that the development of electric cars requires a range of new capabilities on the part of car?makers-and that in turn necessitates new types of robot. ?Fanuc?expects to supply Ford's factory in Cologne,?in Germany, with 500?robots this year as the plant becomes the Ford Cologne Electrification Centre.

Being indispensable has proved to be lucrative. All four stars of Japans automation-industrial complex?boast operating-profit margins of over 20%.That of Keyence, the most profitable of the lot, exceeds 50%. The firm has reported record net profits in each of the past three quarters. Like chip firms such as Nvidia, Keyence does not manufacture products but rather designs them and assists customers in deploying them in their factories. Lasertec, too, does little of its own manufacturing. This capital-light approach helps sustain profits. Keyence spends just 3% of its net sales on research and development (R&D). Similarly, SMC spends around 4%. Fanuc does make almost all its products independently and invests more in production capacity and R&D. But it uses that capital efficiently, not least, as befits a robot-maker, by deploying plenty of its own robots to build robots for customers. Its biggest "lights out" factory can run for more than a month with no pricey human operators around.

?譯文

Some of?the new?foreign demand is the result of the world's?insatiable?hunger for?computer chips.?SMC, which sells?pneumatic?control devices to chip-makers, has seen its business boom,especially as places including America and Europe strive to bring more semiconductor production home, says Masahiro Ota, who sits on SMC's board.?Lasertec?enjoys a near-monopoly on inspection tools for the most advanced semiconductor?photomasks一plates through which circuit patterns are?etched?onto?silicon wafers.?Its share price has?ballooned?four-fold since the start of 2o2o,making it one of the best-performing?blue-chip stocks?in Asia.?Keyence's precision sensors are likewise crucial for the detection of flaws in semiconductor Surfaces.

全球?qū)﹄娔X芯片的旺盛需求導致企業(yè)新增海外訂單。銷售氣壓控制設(shè)備給芯片制造商的SMC迎來銷售爆發(fā)期，特別是像美國和歐洲在內(nèi)的地方嘗試將半導體行業(yè)拉回國內(nèi)。SMC董事層人員Masahiro Ota說道。Lasertec有著近乎壟斷的檢驗工具，最先進的半導體光掩模，磨具通過電路模式蝕刻到硅晶圓片上。自2020年以來，它的股價翻了四倍，成為亞洲表現(xiàn)最好的藍籌股之一?；魇康木軅鞲衅鲗τ跈z測半導體表面的缺陷同樣至關(guān)重要。

The companies'?devices are, of course, also handy in other sectors. Fanuc,?which makes large factory-floor robotic arms, has long been a fixture of car assembly lines. Mike Cicco,who runs Fanuc's American operations, notes that the development of electric cars requires a range of new capabilities on the part of car?makers-and that in turn necessitates new types of robot.??Fanuc?expects to supply Ford's factory in Cologne,?in Germany, with 5oo robots this year as the plant becomes the Ford Cologne Electrification Centre.

公司的設(shè)備在其他領(lǐng)域也非常方便。發(fā)那科生產(chǎn)大型車間機械臂，長期以來一直是汽車裝配線的固定設(shè)備。發(fā)那科美國分部的負責人Mike Cicco指出，電動汽車的開發(fā)需要汽車制造商的一系列新能力，而這反過來又需要新型機器人。由于位于德國科隆的工廠將成為福特科隆電氣化中心，發(fā)那科預計今年將向福特德國科隆的工廠供應500臺機器人。??

Being indispensable has proved to be lucrative. All four stars of Japans automation-industrial complex?boast?operating-profit margins of over 20%.That of Keyence, the most profitable of the lot, exceeds 50%. The firm has reported record net profits in each of the past three quarters. Like chip firms such as Nvidia, Keyence does not manufacture products but rather designs them and assists customers in deploying them in their factories. Lasertec, too, does little of its own manufacturing. This capital-light approach helps sustain profits. Keyence spends just 3% of its net sales on research and development (R&D). Similarly, SMC spends around 4%. Fanuc does make almost all its products independently and invests more in production capacity and R&D. But it uses that capital efficiently, not least, as befits a robot-maker, by deploying plenty of its own robots to build robots for customers. Its biggest "lights out" factory can run for more than a month with no pricey human operators around.

成為不可或缺的角色已經(jīng)被證明是有利可圖的。日本所有的四星級自動化工業(yè)聯(lián)合體都擁有超過20%的營業(yè)利潤率。其中利潤最高的基恩士的利潤超過50%。該公司在過去三個季度的每個季度都報告了創(chuàng)紀錄的凈利潤。與英偉達(Nvidia)等芯片公司一樣，基恩士不生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)品，而是設(shè)計產(chǎn)品，并協(xié)助客戶在工廠中配置產(chǎn)品。Lasertec一樣幾乎不生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)品。這種輕資產(chǎn)方式有助于維持利潤?；魇績H將凈銷售額的3%用于研發(fā)。與之類似，SMC研發(fā)大概占其凈銷售額的4%。發(fā)那科幾乎所有的產(chǎn)品都是獨立生產(chǎn)的，而且在產(chǎn)能和研發(fā)方面投入更多。但它有效地利用了這些資產(chǎn)，尤其是通過部署大量自己的機器人為客戶制造機器人，這符合機器人制造商的身份。其最大的“熄燈”工廠可以在沒有昂貴的人工操作的情況下運行一個多月。