History

Dec. 1951Hirata Rolling Stock Inc. established in Kumamoto with JPY 1 million in capital to manufacture and sell industrial vehicles.
Oct. 1957Oe Plant (integrated with the Kumamoto Plant) built in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Pref.
Aug. 1958Started manufacturing agricultural trailers.
Dec. 1959Started manufacturing belt conveyors and slot conveyors.
May. 1964Hirata delivers its first television assembly line.
Dec. 1967Ueki Plant (now part of Kumamoto Plant) built in Ueki Town, Kamoto Dist., Kumamoto Pref.
Aug. 1968Kanto Plant built in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Pref.
Oct. 1970Started making free-flow conveyors with newly invented chains.
Aug. 1974Hirata Industrial Commerce and Taihei Conveyors merge to form Hirata Industries
Dec. 1977Development of Cartesian coordinate robot NC control XY table "machine base"
1979First order for a transmission assembly line received from an automotive maker
Feb. 1980Hirata Corporation of America founded in IN, U.S.A. as a subsidiary
Jul. 1980Development of arm base TAR-300 horizontal multi-joint 4-axis robot. Commencement of worldwide pre-sales.
Mar. 1981Kansai plant built in Yasu Town, Yasu District, Shiga Pref. Headquarters moved to Shinagawa in Tokyo; former HQ renamed Kumamoto Headquarters.
Apr. 1984Robot plant built in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Pref.
Jan. 1987Hirata Software Technology Co., Ltd. founded in Kumamoto as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Jan. 1988Direct drive robot "AR-DD2700" given award by Nihon Keizai Shinbun.
Nov. 1988Kumamoto East Plant (now part of Kumamoto Plant) built in Ueki Town, Kamoto Dist., Kumamoto Pref.
Jan. 1991Hirata FA Engineering (S) Pte Ltd was founded in Singapore as a subsidiary.
Feb. 1992Taiheikosan Co., Ltd. becomes a subsidiary company (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Nov. 1993Hirata Robotics GmbH founded in Germany as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Apr. 1994Development of AR-K robot series for use in transport in clean rooms.
Dec. 1996Hirata Corporation of Europe Limited founded in U.K. as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Apr. 1999Hirata introduces business management in the form of an internal management administrative structure.
May. 1999Hirata Koei Co., Ltd. established in Ueki Town, Kamoto Dist., Kumamoto Pref.
Aug. 1999Shanghai Hirata Mechanical Engineering Co., Ltd. founded in China as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Jan. 2000HIRATA Engineering Inc. founded in California, USA as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
May. 2000Hirata Engineering S.A. DE C.V. was founded in Mexico as a subsidiary
Oct. 2001Development of "gead-boater" resist coating appliance with built-in spinless coating unit for FPD use.
Dec. 2001Detroit Office(Hirata Corporation of America) Opened in Michigan, USA
Feb. 2003Kumamoto Plant and Kanto Plant awarded ISO14001 certification.
Apr. 2003Overall business awarded ISO9001 certification.
Feb. 2004HIRATA Production Systems Design & Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. founded in China as a subsidiary (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Aug. 2004HIRATA Engineering (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was founded in Thailand as a affiliated company of HSL (now a consolidated subsidiary).
Oct. 2006Hirata Automated Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. established in China.
Dec. 2006Stock listed on JASDAQ Securities Exchange.
Dec. 2006Taiwan Hirata Corporation established.
Feb. 2007Hirata Koei Co., Ltd. changed its name to Hirata Field Engineering Co., Ltd.
May. 2007Development of 10th generation glass substrate transfer robot.
Jan. 2008Shichijo Plant built in Kikuchi City, Kumamoto Pref. to expand production capacity for FPD related production equipments.
Apr. 2008Taiheikosani Co., Ltd. changed its name to Taihei Technos Co., Ltd.
Sep. 2008Prague Branch of Hirata Corporation of Europe Limited opened in Czech Republic.

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