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Hitachi Completes Acquisition of MA micro automation of Germany, a Leading Provider of Robotic and Automation Technology

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MA micro automation will be under operation of JR Automation.
The acquisition expands JR Automation’s reach into global automation markets in medical, advanced battery and other fields.

HOLLAND, Mich., Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Hitachi Ltd. (TSE: 6501, “Hitachi”) has completed the acquisition of MA micro automation GmbH (“MA micro automation”, headquartered in St. Leon-Rot, Germany), a leading provider of robotic and automation technology. MA micro automation will be under operation of JR Automation Technologies, LLC (“JR Automation”) to grow the company’s reach in the global advanced automation market, such as Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. Hitachi and MAX Management GmbH (the seller, a subsidiary of MAX Automation SE) signed a stock purchase agreement in April, 2024, and pursuant to this agreement finalized the deal on September 30, 2024. Both JR Automation and MA micro automation have strong, recognized brands and will continue to do business under their existing names.

“MA micro automation’s capabilities are a perfect complement to JR Automation’s plans for growth in the medical segment,” said Dave DeGraaf, CEO at JR Automation. “We have been impressed not only by their solutions and R&D capabilities, but also by their strong culture and shared values.”

The acquisition of MA micro automation adds value for customers worldwide with diversified offerings in medical and high-precision automation. The deal also expands sales opportunities for JR Automation in Europe and for MA micro automation in the U.S. as well as business portfolio for the Asia Pacific market with a stronger presence in Singapore.

“This collaboration is poised to deliver increased value and support to our customers worldwide, particularly in the medical market vertical where MA micro automation has established a strong foothold,” said Joachim Hardt, CEO at MA micro automation.

The field of robotic SI, which involves a massive amount of data, is playing a central role in connecting shop floor and top floor to achieve overall optimization. With this acquisition of MA micro automation, Hitachi is globally expanding and strengthening its capabilities in the robotic SI field and develop “Total Seamless Solution*1” that solve issues between shop floor and top floor to create new value. “By welcoming new colleagues, Hitachi Group aims to be a global leader in the robotic SI business, and strive to increase the productivity of frontline workers and maximize customers’ corporate value by utilizing the strength in IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products through Lumada*2’s customer co-creation framework,” said Kazunobu Morita, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Industrial Digital Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd.

With the deal closed, JR Automation and MA micro automation are carrying out post-merger integration plans and reaching out to key stakeholders including customers and suppliers. The companies are also planning a celebration at MA micro automation’s headquarters in Germany on October 22.

*1 “Total Seamless Solution” is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the U.S., and Japan.
*2 Lumada: A collective term for solutions, services and technologies based on Hitachi’s advanced digital technologies for creating value from customers’ data accelerating digital innovation. https://www.hitachi.com/products/it/lumada/global/en/index.html

About MA micro automation
Founded in 2003, MA micro automation is headquartered in St. Leon-Rot, Germany and has locations in Singapore and the U.S. The company employs about 200 people and specializes in automation equipment and specialty machines for the medical industry. Examples include production and testing systems for contact lenses, diagnostic consumables, insulin pens, auto-injectors and several other medical devices. More at https://www.micro-automation.de/en/

About JR Automation
Established in 1980, JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions that solve customers’ key operational and productivity challenges. JR Automation serves customers across the globe in a variety of industries, including automotive, life sciences, aerospace, and more. 

In 2019, JR Automation was acquired by Hitachi, Ltd. in a strategic effort towards offering a seamless connection between the physical and cyber space for industrial manufacturers and distributors worldwide. With this partnership, JR Automation provides customers a single-source solution for complete integration of their physical assets and data information, offering greater speed, flexibility, and efficiencies towards achieving their Industry 4.0 visions. JR Automation employs over 2,000 people at 21 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit https://www.jrautomation.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers’ and society’s challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the 3 business sectors of “Digital Systems & Services” – supporting our customers’ digital transformation; “Green Energy & Mobility” – contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and “Connective Industries” – connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company’s revenues as 3 sectors for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 31, 2024) totaled 8,564.3 billion yen, with 573 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 270,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.

 

SOURCE JR Automation

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LYKSTAGE Launches Patented Video Platform That Pays Creators and Viewers — Now Live Across Five Countries

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MUMBAI, India, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LYKSTAGE, a video-sharing platform owned by LYK Inc., a Delaware-based entity, and founded by New York-based entrepreneur Adris Chakraborty, is redefining how the creator economy works — with a patented monetization model no other platform can legally replicate.

Built by a technology team in India under Manhattan Tech Ventures, LYKSTAGE runs on a patented Watch-Time Monetization Model that fundamentally changes who earns from video content. Creators earn whenever their content’s watch time gets monetized — no subscriber minimums, no waiting periods, and no thresholds to cross before earning begins.

What makes the model unprecedented is that viewers earn too. Logged-in viewers are rewarded whenever their watch time gets monetized — when they watch content uninterrupted and the ad served during viewing is fully consumed. When that happens, the creator earns, the viewer is rewarded, and the platform earns. Every reward is funded by actual ad revenue — not venture capital subsidies. The model is entirely self-sustaining.

The platform serves both skippable and non-skippable ads, determined by an ad server algorithm that optimizes based on viewing patterns and content traction. For advertisers, impressions are served intelligently — matching the right ad format to the right moment, delivering higher completion rates and genuine attention.

LYKSTAGE is now live across five markets — India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the UAE — and available on Samsung TV, LG TV, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, desktop, mobile web, and native apps on both the App Store and Google Play Store.

Adris Chakraborty, a Kolkata-born Columbia Business School alumnus based in the US since 2003, co-founded Mediamorphosis Advertising & Technology Inc. in New York in 2006 with his spouse and business partner Poulami Mukherjee. The company expanded to the UK in 2012, followed by Manhattan Communications in India — building a multicultural advertising group spanning five countries with over 100 clients, providing LYKSTAGE with built-in advertiser relationships and market intelligence.

The platform has crossed over one million users across all markets, with more than 20,000 creators on board and growing across all five countries — achieved with minimal paid marketing.

LYKSTAGE is a transparent, patented system where the people who create the value are the ones who earn from it.

Sign up at:
Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lykstage.app
Apple – https://apps.apple.com/in/app/lykstage-video-streaming/id6754064834

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2960187/LYKSTAGE_Logo.jpg

 

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Towngas and Tencent forge strategic partnership to drive “Energy + Tech” smart digital transformation

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HONG KONG, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) and Tencent have signed a strategic partnership agreement in Hong Kong. The two companies will collaborate extensively on unified cloud resource management, digital platform development, large artificial intelligence (AI) models and applications, customer engagement enhancement, and R&D tool synergy. Together, they aim to drive the smart digital transformation of the energy sector.

The partnership dates back to 2020, when Towngas Lifestyle, the extended business division of Towngas, first teamed up with Tencent Cloud. In 2021, Towngas Energy, the Group’s renewable energy arm, worked with Tencent Cloud to build a smart energy ecosystem, which currently supports over a hundred integrated energy projects for the business segment. In 2023, Towngas Lifestyle and Tencent Cloud entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership spanning cloud platforms, big data, AI, and customer engagement, delivering one-stop lifestyle solutions to 46 million household customers across Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. This latest agreement marks a comprehensive, group-level strategic partnership between Towngas and Tencent. It is designed to pool their resources, achieve cross-divisional synergy, drive quality and efficiency gains, and accelerate AI innovation.

Over the past six years, this collaboration has yielded remarkable results. Powered by Tencent Cloud, Towngas Lifestyle has upgraded the digital foundation and driven application innovation for its Towngas Lifestyle Cloud (TLC) platform. Furthermore, leveraging Tencent Cloud’s TBDS (Tencent Big Data Suite), it built the Towngas Analytics Platform (TAP), which currently supports big data applications for over 70 affiliated city-gas companies as well as its Hong Kong operations.

In terms of AI applications, Towngas Lifestyle has capitalised on Tencent’s AI computing power and large model technology to launch innovative tools such as smart safety inspections and AI service agents, significantly boosting the efficiency of frontline staff at gas companies. To better serve its customers, the company has deeply integrated Tencent’s WeCom to improve customer outreach. On the R&D front, Towngas Lifestyle has widely adopted Tencent’s AI development tools to streamline workflows. Moreover, the partners have successfully replicated their mainland successes in Hong Kong, completing the cross-border deployment of the TAP platform and advancing the upgrade of the city’s business systems.

Mr Peter Wong Wai-yee, Managing Director of Towngas, said: “Tencent’s leading position in AI and digital technology is obvious to all. Since 2020, the two parties have established a strong partnership, expanding from Towngas Lifestyle’s extended business to cooperation on the smart energy platform for the renewable energy segment, and gradually extending from the mainland to Hong Kong. As an enterprise with a 164-year history, Towngas has grown to possess a customer base of over 120 million since entering the mainland gas utility business in 1994. Facing such a massive number of customers, data security is of paramount importance. How to build a secure and efficient system for management and service has become a critical issue for business development. We are confident in joining hands with Tencent to co-build a secure and efficient digital system, comprehensively elevate the customer service experience and operational efficiency, and jointly pioneer more possibilities for ‘Energy + Tech’.”

Mr Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industries Group, stated that as a household brand in Hong Kong, Towngas’s “customer-centric” service philosophy aligns closely with Tencent’s corporate mission of “Value for Users, Tech for Good”. Over the past six years, Tencent has engaged in deep collaboration with multiple segments under Towngas, empowering businesses with technology to achieve precise operations. Tencent looks forward to taking this exchange as a new starting point, further consolidating the “Cloud + AI” technological foundation based on existing cooperation, and deeply integrating Tencent’s digital capabilities with Towngas’s rich application scenarios. Through technological innovation, the goal is to achieve better customer service delivery and enhance operational efficiency, exploring a new path to sustainable development for the smart upgrade of the energy industry while ensuring data security and user privacy.

Looking ahead, the two companies will continue to deepen their collaboration in migrating core businesses to the cloud, co-building digital platforms, deploying large models and AI applications, and enhancing customer engagement. This will not only deliver a superior experience for gas customers but also set a benchmark for the high-quality transformational development of the energy industry.

 

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SOURCE Tencent Cloud

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DMEGC Solar Achieves EcoVadis Gold Medal, Underscoring Its Commitment to ESG Excellence

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JINHUA, China, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On April 15, DMEGC Solar, a global leader in magnetic materials and renewable energy solutions, achieved a milestone breakthrough in sustainable development. With outstanding performance in environmental protection, social responsibility, and other key areas, the company earned a Gold Medal from the internationally recognized rating agency EcoVadis, scoring 82 points. This places DMEGC Solar in the top 3% of all rated companies worldwide, surpassing 97% of participants.

EcoVadis is a globally leading sustainability assessment platform, having rated over 150,000 companies across more than 250 industries and 185 countries. Its evaluation framework covers 21 indicators across four core themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. The platform aims to assess the sustainability performance and social responsibility of companies within global supply chains.

DMEGC Solar participated in the assessment at the group level rather than as a single factory, demonstrating outstanding strength across all four dimensions. In the Labor & Human Rights dimension, the company has established a comprehensive employee rights protection system, strictly implemented occupational health and safety standards, and promoted employee development and career growth, ranking in the top 1% of its industry.

In the Sustainable Procurement dimension, the company has built a full-chain green supply chain management mechanism, collaborating with core suppliers to create a “cooperative carbon reduction” ecosystem. Initiatives such as packaging material recycling, green electricity usage, and localized collaborative production have enabled a low-carbon, traceable supply chain, also ranking in the top 1% of the industry.

Coupled with strong performances in environmental governance and business ethics, the company achieved an impressive score of 82, surpassing 97% of evaluated companies and earning the Gold Medal. This distinction places DMEGC Solar at the top in the global solar module manufacturers to receive such recognition.

This Gold Medal rating will for sure strengthen the company’s competitiveness in overseas markets. On one hand, its industry-leading ESG performance helps meet policy requirements related to sustainable supply chains, enhancing both the premium pricing of its products in international markets and its ability to secure orders. On the other hand, this recognition will boost customer and partner trust in the company’s brand, supporting the expansion of market share for its core products—such as photovoltaic modules, residential energy storage systems, and magnetic materials—while consolidating its market leadership.

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