Following the retirement of President Shogo Yamada (山田 章吾), Makoto Kobayashi (小林 真), formerly of Mitsui & Co., took office as president of プラスオートメーション. The company has indicated a policy of expanding on-site automation with RaaS as its core offering.
It was announced on 10 November that the presidency of プラスオートメーション had changed from Shogo Yamada (山田 章吾), who retired in October, to Makoto Kobayashi (小林 真), formerly of Mitsui & Co.
The company aims to make warehouse automation more accessible and provides a fixed monthly subscription robot service, “RaaS (Robotics as a Service).” As of the end of September 2026, it provides more than 8,000 robots across 268 locations nationwide.
Going forward, the company plans to concentrate its management resources on RaaS and strengthen its ongoing support, from improvements and proposals for utilizing robots and automation equipment after deployment through to rollout at other locations.
It also outlined options for gradually expanding automation from sorting to storage and transport by providing its core t-Sort sorting robots, shelf-transport GTP systems and cage-cart transport AMRs through RaaS in succession.
The company also explained its aim of creating “operations that never stop,” which can respond flexibly to fluctuations in on-site conditions and staff shortages, by promoting the use of its integrated control system, +Hub, and operational expertise leveraging AI.