Seigo Kinugawa appointed as new CEO

14 May, 2019

Bringing a unique global perspective, Kinugawa will focus on responding to social needs with innovative manufacturing solutions.

OMRON announced that as of 1 April, Seigo Kinugawa has been appointed as the new CEO of its Industrial Automation Business in EMEA, following the retirement of Hiroyuki Usui. Mr. Kinugawa, 53, joined OMRON 30 years ago as a sales engineer in Nagoya, focusing on the automotive industry, and has since held several sales, services and planning positions within the company. Mr. Kinugawa brings a unique global perspective with over 10 years of experience outside of Japan, including Asia, USA and Europe. Most recently, he served as Senior General Manager of the Strategic Planning Division, Industrial Automation Business Company at the OMRON Corporation’s Headquarters in Kyoto, Japan.

“We are very pleased to see Mr. Kinugawa take on this new role following his extensive contribution to the company’s success, especially in the area of robotics,” states Harold Kapp, Head of Human Resources at OMRON EMEA. “As an example, he initiated our co-operation with Techman on collaborative robots, as Senior General Manager of the Robotics Business Project,” Kapp concludes.

“I am very honoured with the responsibility, and excited to take on this role in Europe, especially in this period of rapid innovation and change,” Seigo Kinugawa comments. “Responding to social needs through innovation is our raison d'être since our foundation in 1933. We bring innovation to manufacturing, by materializing our “innovative-Automation!” concept, to benefit the society.

Kinugawa continues: “In the past two years, we have increased the number of employees in sales and services by 10% and opened new proof-of-concept innovation labs across Europe. With these local resources, we can jointly co-create solutions with our customers, to meet their needs especially in the automotive, food & beverage and pharmaceutical industries. We are ready to respond to the changing challenges of society, both because of our legacy and mission, as well as our recent leaps in innovation through our Sensing & Control + THINK technologies” Mr. Kinugawa concludes.

Next to his role as CEO of Omron’s Industrial Automation Business in EMEA, Mr. Kinugawa also holds the position of Managing Executive Officer at OMRON Corporation. He is based in the European Headquarters of Omron Europe in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, and reports to Mr. Miyanaga, the President of the Industrial Automation Company of OMRON Corporation.