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The History of FANUC Corporation

About FANUC Corporation

FANUC, which stands for Fuji Automatic Numerical Control, was a company founded by Doctor Seiuemon Inaba – the person who developed the concept of Numerical Control (NC) – at Minamitsuru, Japan in the year 1956. The company is currently considered as the “Largest Robotics company in the World”.

The company initially developed and focused more on producing NC machinery for manufacturing automation in the 1950’s to 1960’s, however it later on expanded to developing Robotic Automation. Currently the company develops, manufactures, sells, and maintains CNC systems, Robot Systems, Lasers, Nano Robots, and Robomachines. It designs products with the purpose of integrating automation and devoted itself to it to aid development.

The FANUC Corporation is divided into three (3) Divisions – FA Division, Robot Division, and Robomachine Division.

The FA Division produces the following machines/systems –

  • CNC Systems
  • CNC Servo Motors
  • Lasers

The Robot Division is in charge of marketing the industrial robots while the Robomachine Division is in charge of developing –

  • Wire cut Electrical Discharge Machining
  • Electric Injection Molding
  • Ultra-Precision Milling

Reputed for its signature yellow robots, the FANUC corporation, to date, has installed approximately 750,000 industrial robots worldwide and supplied 240,000 robots in both North and South America.

FANUC Milestones – The Notable Years

1956-1959

  • The First NC and SERVO systems were successfully developed in 1959 and on 1959 the first Electro-Hydraulic Pulse Motor and Continuous Path NC were then created.
  • The Makino Milling Machine Co., Ltd were the first to receive the first commercial FANUC NC.

1960 -1969

  • In this decade, the first Open Loop NC (FANUC 220), Linear Cutting NC, all-IC type NC, Commercial DNC, and Modularized NC were developed and completed.

1972 – 1978

  • At the beginning of 1970’s, the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) was introduced and at the same time, the NC Drill created. In the succeeding years, FANUC started developing Robots and installed it in their factories. They also completed the Wire-cut electric discharge machine and opened an Automation System Laboratory, and started commercializing the production and shipment of their robots (this was the ROBOT-MODEL 1).
  • In the same decade, FANUC was able to establish their company in both the USA and Europe.

1980 – 1989
Within the span of 9 years, FANUC was able to establish their company in the U.K., Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Germany. They also established their FANUC Culture Center and the Foundation for Promotion of Advanced Automation Technology. At the same time, they opened their Technical Training Center. They were also able to construct the following establishments:

  • Tsukuba Factory
  • Fuji Factory
  • Central Technical Center
  • Robot Assembly Factory
  • Production Technology Laboratory
  • Product Development Laboratory

In 1982-1984 each year succeeding, three notable figures visited FANUC Fuji Complex – the British Prime Minister, Lady Margaret Thatcher visited on September 19,1982; His Royal Highness Crown Prince Henri of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg visited on November 26,1983; and his Majesty the Emperor (the then Crown Prince) on July 11,1984.

In 1986-1988, the FANUC Headquarters was visited by two notable figures, Emperor Showa (October 13, 1986) and His Royal Highness Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands (June 23, 1988)

Within the years 1980-1989, the following were developed:

  • AC Servo MotorFanuc
  • Fanuc Autoshot (Fully Electric Plastic Injection Molding Machine)
  • FANUC Series 0
  • Digital Servo (complete)
  • CO2 Laser

1990 – 1999

  • From 1990-1999, FANUC started commercializing the production of the 16i Series CNC. They were also able to establish in China, India, Singapore at the same time, they finished constructing the System Factory, Hayato Factory, and Servo Motor Factory.

2000 – 2018
With the span of 18 years, they established a sales branch in Nagoya and started commercializing the production of:

  • Intelligent ROBOTs
  • 30i Series CNC
  • Delta ROBOT (Parallel Link Robot)

They even developed Robot CR-35iA and FIBER LASER within this time frame.
FANUC was also able to establish in countries such as: Vietnam, Russia, Czech, Hungary, France, Poland, Switzerland, and South America. They even began constructing the Mibu Factories and FANUC Academy and completed building the following Factories/Establishments as well:

  • Sheet Metal Factory
  • Nature Hall
  • Roboshot Factory
  • Cooking Center
  • Servo Motor Factory
  • Spindle Motor Factory
  • Cut Manufacturing Department (Tsukuba Factory)
  • Nagoya Technical Center
  • Fanuc Rome Bath
  • CNC Factory
  • Press & Die Cast Factory

In 2021, Fanuc had already manufactured its 750,000th industrial robot. They have ranked 2nd (from the 5) Main Japanese Robotics companies and have continued to grow. If you’re interested in buying a Fanuc Machine, please look through our inventory of used Fanuc machines or contact us today and we’ll guarantee that we can help you find the right machine that’s perfect for your application.

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