Omron and MVTec Form Alliance

The above article appeared on the front page of today's Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun.
I think this is the first big topic in a while in this industry, which has been a bit stagnant.

OMRON is one of the top two companies in the "image sensor" industry, along with Keyence.
On the other hand, MVTec is the developer of HALCON, a sophisticated image processing library that primarily targets "custom image processing inspection equipment. (FlexInspector uses HALCON).
We expect that this "alliance of two male poles" in the imaging industry will have a considerable impact in the future.

But on the other hand, the story is not that simple.

The appeal of image sensors as a business is that they are "finished products" and can therefore be evaluated by users in advance, and that it is possible to draw the line at what cannot be done. In the business of imaging inspection, where the effects of implementation cannot be fully guaranteed, this is the "only" way. In fact, there is no doubt that the largest force in this field is Keyence, which has realized this.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH "CUSTOM IMAGE PROCESSING INSPECTION SYSTEMS" IS THAT "YOU WON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU MAKE IT," AND "IT COSTS A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO MAKE. FURTHERMORE, WE KNOW FROM OUR OWN EXPERIENCE THAT THE LINE OF "WHAT CAN'T BE DONE" IS SURELY BLURRED WHEN CARRYING "HALCON," WHICH IS SAID TO BE THE MOST POWERFUL IMAGE PROCESSING LIBRARY, AND THE HAND-OFF BECOMES EVEN WORSE.

This is evident in the evolution of Cognex's strategy in this area.

Although the details of how OMRON will develop its products in the future are not clear, I am certain that the performance of OMRON's image sensors will go up a notch. I am sure that OMRON's image sensors will be upgraded to a higher level of performance, and will certainly break into the realm of "high-performance image processing inspection equipment" as a technological level. And at a much lower price.

Just a big bummer; if you want to sell 1,000 units, you have to put together the specifications for 1,000 units, make them, evaluate them, verify them....
The newspapers say "sold through SIs," but there aren't many SIs left that can do images.
If we do poorly, we may end up creating a large number of "inspection devices that don't work" and accumulate a "negative legacy.
They may have set themselves on a thorny path....

PERSONALLY, I THINK IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER TO SECRETLY REFINE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CONVENTIONAL IMAGE SENSOR USING HALCON AND ONLY SELL THE FINISHED PRODUCT AS THE "MOST POWERFUL IMAGE SENSOR.

For our part,

• THE POINT IS THAT "A PLATFORM FOR FA ON WHICH HALCON OPERATES" WILL BE PROVIDED BY OMRON.
• THE BIGGEST FEAR, "KEYENCE SELLING IMAGE SENSORS WITH HALCON ON BOARD", IS GONE.
• THE POINT THAT HALCON CAN SHOWCASE ITS HIGH PERFORMANCE.

I think this is good news in the