What SUGI SYSTEMS does

SUGI SYSTEMS (杉産業電機株式会社) is a privately held Japanese embedded-systems and industrial-automation firm founded in February 1964 in Nagoya and incorporated in May 1970 at its current headquarters in Obu City, Aichi Prefecture. It designs and manufactures microcomputer-based products, electronic application products, and custom control panels, with capabilities spanning hardware (control panels, PLC boxes, wireless calling systems, solar/wind controllers, weight measurement devices), embedded firmware, and Windows- and DOS-based application software. Its technology lineage traces to a 1974 microcomputer (SMC-1) built on Intel's 8008 CPU, extended through SMC-2 (Intel 8080) in 1975 and onward into image-processing inspection, ECU/CAN/KWP communication interfaces, and LAN/intranet infrastructure for production lines.

The firm sells into four primary verticals: automotive (Toyota, Aisin, Aisin AI, Daihatsu, Hino, Subaru, J-Bus, Fanuc, Toyota Industries, Toyota Central R&D, Kobe Steel / UACJ), rail (JR East, Hanshin Electric Railway, Kintetsu Railway, Tokyu Rail), manufacturing/FA, and retail (drugstores, home centers, sports shops using Pocket Call and Chotocall devices). Pricing is non-public, with customers contacting the firm by phone, fax, or email for quotations on custom-engineered solutions; no transactions are visible on the website, which is a content-only channel. Additional sub-brands include Radar Moai (intelligent radar security), Accsun (solar tracking), Pocket Call, and Chotocall, protected by one patent (1997, fall-sensor portable radio), one trademark (2016, Radar Moai), and one industrial design (2010, LED vending-machine light).

The business model is project-based industrial engineering services: bespoke hardware design, embedded software development, and system integration delivered against customer-specific requirements, with no disclosed recurring software subscription, no app, no public API, and no digital channel infrastructure. Distribution is purely direct from the Obu City headquarters; many Toyota Group relationships are intermediated via Japanese trading houses ("商社経由"), implying SUGI operates as a sub-tier engineering vendor rather than a strategic supplier of record. The firm is family-controlled, with dual Chairman/President leadership in place since August 2011, and has reported 1-10 employees with no parent company, subsidiaries, or external investment.

Name

SUGI SYSTEMS

Legal name

杉産業電機株式会社

Website

https://sugisystem.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SUGI SYSTEMS designs and manufactures custom microcomputer-based industrial control systems, image-processing inspection equipment, and wireless in-store calling devices for Japanese automotive, railway, manufacturing, and retail customers, operating from Obu City, Aichi Prefecture as a privately held family-owned engineering firm.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Automation Equipment

NAICS

Relay and Industrial Control Manufacturing (335314), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Switchgear & Switchboard Apparatus (3613), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Controllers & Control Systems (PLCs, PACs, CNC Controllers) (IMAHAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial Control Cabinets & Power Distribution (Panels, Switchgear for Automation) (IMAHAHAK), Process & Batch Control Software (Recipe Management, ISA-88) (IMAGABAH)

Keywords

• Factory automation systems
• Industrial control panels
• Machine vision inspection
• Embedded microcomputer systems
• Automotive ECU testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Obu

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Hardware Products: Sale of microcomputer products, electronic equipment, control panels, and sensor systems. Products include calling systems, power control systems, and custom-built control solutions.
2. Software Development: Custom software development for FA systems, production management, inventory management, quality control, and communication systems. Includes embedded software, Windows applications, and controller programming.
3. System Integration: Design and integration of complete systems including image processing systems, control systems, and network infrastructure for manufacturing and industrial applications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

SUGI SYSTEMS designs, manufactures, and integrates microcomputer-based industrial products, custom control panels, factory automation (FA) systems, and image-processing inspection equipment. The company also produces wireless in-store calling devices, solar/wind power control systems, and develops supporting embedded and PC-based software for production management, logistics, facility, and communication applications. Their solutions are tailored for automotive manufacturers, railway operators, and industrial production lines.

Product overview

SUGI SYSTEMS (杉産業電機株式会社) is a Japanese industrial technology company offering a portfolio of hardware products and software services. The product lineup consists of four main hardware categories: (1) Microcomputer products including Pocket Call wireless staff calling systems, Chotocall customer call systems, and agricultural watering controllers; (2) Electronic products including solar tracking systems, vertical-axis wind power systems, weight measurement devices, and power converters; (3) Control panels and operator boxes for industrial machinery; and (4) Inspection systems for factory automation and food packaging quality control. Service offerings include FA control systems, logistics/warehouse management, facility management, communication systems, image processing systems, network infrastructure (LAN/intranet), web camera monitoring, and custom PC assembly. The company serves primarily industrial customers including automotive manufacturers and railway companies, applying embedded systems, PLC control, and IoT technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pocket Call: Wireless portable calling device for store staff
• Chotto Call
• Accsun
• Radar Moai

Products and services

• Pocket Call (ポケットコール) Wireless staff calling system for retail stores that allows employees to receive customer calls via portable wireless devices, including a fall-sensor variant. Deployed across all 47 Japanese prefectures via home centers, sports shops, and drugstores.
• Chotocall (チョットコール) Store call system where customers press a button at the entrance and a display notifies staff, designed for retail environments such as drugstores.
• Watering System (灌水制御システム) Solar-powered agricultural watering control system with timers and network connectivity that can operate independently in areas without electrical infrastructure.
• Access Sun Solar Tracking System (日照追随型太陽光システム) Solar tracking system that automatically follows the sun's position to maximize energy generation, storing excess power in battery systems for later use.
• Wind Power System (垂直軸風力システム) Vertical-axis wind power system that can generate electricity from both wind and solar energy using a hybrid turbine design.
• Balance Weight Scale (不平衡重量測定機) Measuring device that detects and weighs imbalanced loads on rotating equipment such as motors to assess vibration levels.
• Power Transformer (電源変換装置) Power conversion device that extracts and converts electrical power from signal lines for use in various applications.
• Control Panels (制御盤) Custom control panels for industrial machinery and factory automation, including PLC control boxes and specialized operator interfaces.
• FA Inspection System (FA用高精度検査装置) High-precision machine vision inspection systems for factory automation, used for automated quality control on automotive and industrial production lines.
• Food Packaging Inspection System (食品包装検査装置) Automated inspection system for food packaging that detects foreign objects, defects, and incorrect labeling on production lines.
• FA Control Systems (FA制御システム) Factory automation control software covering production management, quality control, and production line management, built on Windows (including Embedded), Linux, and MS-DOS with C/C++, C#, VB, QB, and Assembly programming.
• Logistics Management Systems (物流管理システム) Warehouse and inventory management software for storage management, weight management, and supply-chain optimization.
• Facility Management Systems (設備管理システム) Building and facility management software for equipment maintenance, energy management, and overall facility optimization.
• Communication Systems (通信管理システム) Communication management software for distributed equipment and facility communication control.
• Image Processing Systems (画像処理システム) Machine vision systems using image sensors for product inspection, position detection, and defect (NG) recognition on production lines.
• LAN Network Systems (LANネットワーク) Local area network design and setup services for factory and facility infrastructure.
• Intranet Server Systems (イントラネットサーバー) Internal network server setup and configuration services for factory automation and communication purposes.
• Web Camera Live Monitoring (WEBカメラLIVE監視) Web camera live monitoring system for remote surveillance and multi-point observation.
• Custom PC (カスタマイズPC) Custom-built DOS/V compatible computers with specialized components including RAID systems and industrial-grade configurations.
• Radar Moai Intelligent Security System (レーダーモアイ) Intelligent security system using radar technology for intrusion detection and surveillance.

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Shindengen Electric Works (新電元工業株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 1968Cooperative partner since February 1968 for DC stabilized power supply development and manufacturing. This was an early strategic partnership for power supply technology development.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Contec Co., Ltd. Japanese manufacturer of industrial PCs, measurement/control boards, FA controllers and IoT edge gateways. Contec is directly comparable because it sells PLC-adjacent control boards, custom industrial PCs and factory automation integration services to overlapping Japanese automotive and electronics OEMs.
• IDEC Corporation: Japanese specialist in control panels, pushbuttons, switches, safety products and PLCs/HMI for industrial automation. IDEC competes head-to-head with SUGI's custom control panel and operator interface product lines for factory automation customers.
• Digital Electronics Corporation (Schneider Electric Pro-face): Japan-headquartered HMI, operator interface and industrial PC vendor serving factory automation. Comparable because it sells the operator-interface tier of FA control systems that SUGI assembles into custom control panels.

Broad incumbents

• Keyence Corporation: Global Japanese leader in machine vision, sensors and industrial inspection systems. Directly comparable for SUGI's FA Inspection Systems and image-processing product lines, though at vastly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Omron Corporation: Japanese industrial automation incumbent offering PLCs, sensors, vision systems, and safety/control components. Overlaps with SUGI's PLC-based control panels, machine vision inspection, and automotive production line systems.
• Azbil Corporation: Japanese industrial and building automation specialist with measurement/control products and DCS/SCADA offerings. Comparable as a Japan-headquartered FA controls player with overlapping automotive factory and instrumentation customer relationships.
• Yokogawa Electric Corporation: Global Japanese leader in industrial process control, DCS/SCADA, sensors and control instrumentation. Overlaps with SUGI on the measurement/control instrumentation and FA system integration side, though Yokogawa serves much larger process industries customers.
• Yaskawa Electric Corporation: Japanese motion control, AC drives, robotics and industrial automation vendor. Comparable for the factory automation and production line systems SUGI delivers to automotive customers, though Yaskawa focuses upstream on motion/robotics rather than full system integration.
• CKD Corporation: Established Japanese industrial automation components supplier (pneumatic, FA, control equipment). Broader portfolio than SUGI but overlaps in factory automation controls, electrical equipment and custom industrial systems for the same Japanese OEM customer base.

Regional players

• Hioki E.E. Corporation: Japan-based electrical measurement instrument maker specializing in power meters, sensors and industrial test equipment. Comparable because it sells measurement/control instrumentation to Japanese automotive and industrial customers, with comparable Japan-first geographic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SUGI SYSTEMS