What Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg does

Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg Co., Ltd. (株式会社小田原機器, ticker 7314) is a Japanese manufacturer of public transportation fare collection and information equipment, headquartered in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services fare boxes, cashless payment terminals, IC card systems, ticket issuing machines, LCD/LED fare displays, voice announcement devices, and cloud-based data management and bus location systems primarily for bus and railway operators across Japan. It holds an estimated 40% share of Japan's one-man bus fare box market and runs a direct B2B sales network with five offices (Odawara HQ plus Tokyo, Sendai, Kansai, and Fukuoka) covering all major regions, supported by a 24-hour/365-day maintenance operation via its subsidiary Oval Tech.

The product portfolio spans the RX-FCM (cashless-enabled, Good Design Award 2022), RX-FTS, and RX-NZS fare box families; the BOSS multi-payment terminal (integrating Visa, JCB, Amex, Diners, Discover touch payments and QR codes including PayPay, Rakuten Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay); the SELF standalone tablet (Japan's first Visa touch payment bus system); Felica-based IC card systems with 0.2-second processing; thermal ticket machines; LCD/LED displays and voice synthesis announcement devices; and a Data Management System plus Bus Location System that collect OD, IC, and cashless payment data with predictive maintenance logs. Group capabilities are reinforced by three consolidated subsidiaries: Oval Tech (technical services and contracted manufacturing, est. 1999), Sota System (ETC/VICS/cloud/embedded software, acquired 2017), and Azuma (IoT/embedded electronics, absorbed 2020). Strategic initiatives include Account-Based Ticketing (ABT), a July 2026 MOU with JCB and Resona Holdings for Ultra-Wideband hands-free payments, and the "ONG2030" medium-term plan targeting ¥10 billion in revenue by FY2030.

Revenue is generated through multi-year direct enterprise sales cycles (up to 3 years from inquiry to acceptance) for equipment, supplemented by recurring after-sales maintenance, spare parts, and technical services, plus software/IT solution revenue from Sota System and Azuma. The company has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (currently Standard Market) since 2009, has 224 group-consolidated employees as of December 31, 2025, and operates as an independent entity with no controlling shareholder or parent company.

Name

Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg

Legal name

株式会社小田原機器 (ODAWARA AUTO-MACHINE MFG. CO., LTD.)

Website

https://odawarakiki.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg is a Japanese manufacturer of public transportation fare collection equipment—including fare boxes, cashless payment terminals, IC card systems, and bus data management systems—selling directly to bus and railway operators across Japan with an estimated 40% share of the one-man bus fare box market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Transit Fare Collection Equipment

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (33331)

SIC

Misc Industrial & Commercial Machinery & Equipment (3590)

akta.pro primary industry

Fare Collection Back Office & Revenue Management (THAIAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Concessionary, Student & Employer Pass Programs (THAIAMAI)

Keywords

• Fare collection equipment
• Bus fare boxes
• Cashless transit systems
• Transit payment terminals
• Railway fare equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Odawara

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fare Collection Equipment Sales: Sale of fare collection equipment including fare boxes, ticket issuing machines, IC card systems, and cashless payment terminals to public transportation operators. Revenue recognized upon product delivery and acceptance.
2. Display and Information Equipment Sales: Sale of LCD fare displays, destination signs, voice synthesis announcement devices, LED indicators, and departure indicators for buses and railway vehicles.
3. After-Sales Maintenance and Repair Services: 24-hour, 365-day on-call maintenance support, on-site repair services, and spare parts supply for installed equipment. Remote diagnostics and log analysis for predictive maintenance.
4. Technical Services and Contract Manufacturing: Mechatronics product development, manufacturing, and maintenance outsourcing. Includes cost engineering, quality improvement, and upstream engineering feedback from field maintenance data. Provided by Oval Tech subsidiary.
5. Systems Development: Software development services for traffic infrastructure including ETC systems, VICS, traffic information systems, cloud network infrastructure, and IoT embedded software. Provided by Sota System and Azuma subsidiaries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg designs, manufactures, and sells fare collection equipment and cashless payment systems for buses and railways in Japan, including fare boxes (RX-FCM, RX-FTS, RX-NZS series), IC card readers, multi-payment terminals (BOSS), tablet terminals (SELF), thermal ticket machines, LCD fare displays, voice synthesis announcement devices, and cloud-based bus location and data management systems. The company also delivers 24/7 after-sales maintenance services, regional transportation data consulting, Account-Based Ticketing solutions, and contract manufacturing via its subsidiaries Oval Tech, Sota System, and Azuma.

Product overview

Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg is a transportation fare collection equipment manufacturer offering a comprehensive product portfolio for buses and railways. The core products include three fare box models: the RX-FCM型 (cashless payment-enabled, Good Design Award winner), RX-FTS型 (slim automatic calculation with change-making), and RX-NZS型 (automatic change-making). Supporting the fare boxes are the BOSS multi-payment terminal (integrated with fare displays and announcements) and SELF tablet terminal (Japan's first Visa touch payment bus system). Additional products include IC card systems (Felica-based), thermal ticket machines, LCD fare displays, voice synthesis announcement devices, LED displays, departure signs, transceivers, and centralized settlement machines. For backend operations, the company offers data management systems, bus location tracking, and ABT (Account-Based Ticketing) services. The company also provides regional transportation consulting using accumulated operational data and technical services including 24/7 on-call support. The product ecosystem is unified through fare box-centered integration, enabling real-time data collection and remote program updates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RX-FCM型 Fare Box (Cashless Payment Type)

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, regional and legacy.

• JCB Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 July 2026MOU signed for joint development and implementation of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless payment technology for public bus services in Japan. Odawara joined JCB and Resona's existing UWB payment collaboration to support deployment in the bus sector. Technical trials planned for FY2026, small-scale commercial rollout FY2027, full deployment FY2028.
• Resona Holdings, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 July 2026Three-way MOU with JCB and Odawara to develop UWB-based hands-free payments for buses. Resona brings banking/financial infrastructure to the collaboration. Trials target addressing driver shortages and operational burden of managing diverse payment methods.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd.majorTechnology or Integration · 14 October 2025Provided stera transit platform for contactless payment on Okinawa Yubu Island water buffalo cart rides, marking Japan's first contactless payment implementation for such rides.
• Bank of The RyukyusmajorTechnology or Integration · 14 October 2025Facilitated contactless payment implementation for water buffalo cart rides on Okinawa remote islands, implementing Japan's first such contactless payment system.
• QUADRAC Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationProvided Q-move SaaS platform for transit payment and authentication, enabling Visa touch payment processing for Nagaden Bus and other operators. Q-move site allows passengers to check ride history in real-time after alighting.
• Visa Worldwide Japan Co., Ltd.coreTechnology or IntegrationProvided Visa contactless payment brand license and certification for cashless fare collection on buses. Enables Visa, JCB, Amex, Diners Club, Discover touch payments on vehicles.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd.coreTechnology or IntegrationProvided stera transit platform enabling cashless payment integration for Nagaden Bus route buses. First vehicle-integrated cashless terminal deployment in Japan.
• Hokkaido Atlas Co., Ltd.regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional distribution partner for Hokkaido region. Co-installed cashless payment terminals with Odawara for Hokuto Kotsu airport limousine buses.
• Fuji Photo Film Holdings (富士フイルムホールディングス)legacyOthersOriginal parent company of Odawara Auto-Machine's predecessor (Fuji Photo Film subcontractor for mechanical parts and equipment maintenance). Founded as a subsidiary in 1950.
• Canal Payment Service Co., Ltd.majorTechnology or IntegrationProvided QR code payment solution for Ibaraki Kotsu's full fleet cashless system. Supports PayPay, Rakuten Pay, d払い, SmartCode (Merpay, au PAY), Alipay+, WeChat Pay QR code payments.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH: German-headquartered global supplier of electronic fare collection systems for public transport (ETCS, validators, back office). Direct international peer because it sells equivalent fare box, ticket validator, and account-based ticketing solutions to bus and rail operators worldwide.
• Lecip Holdings Corporation: Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed maker of fare collection systems (FCM series) for buses and trains, plus display and IC card products. Closest like-for-like Japanese small-cap competitor to Odawara in the bus fare box category.
• Flowbird (formerly Parkeon): France-based supplier of ticketing, fare collection, and parking payment solutions for transit operators. Direct peer selling validator hardware and back-office platforms to bus and rail operators, comparable to Odawara's fare boxes plus Data Management System bundle.
• INIT GmbH: German supplier of integrated IT solutions for public transit including fare collection, ticketing, and planning/AVL systems. Comparable to Odawara as it offers both onboard terminals and a cloud back-office platform — analogous to Odawara's BOSS/SELF plus Data Management System combination.
• NIPPON SIGNAL Co., Ltd. Japanese transit equipment maker focused on automatic fare collection (AFC) systems for railways and bus operators. Comparable because both companies supply fare gates/boxes, ticket issuing machines, and IC card systems to Japanese transit operators, competing head-to-head on rail and one-man operations.

Broad incumbents

• Conduent Transportation: US-listed company providing fare collection, transit payment, and mobility solutions to public transit agencies. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering both the hardware terminal layer (analogous to Odawara's fare boxes) and the cloud services layer (analogous to Data Management System).
• Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions: Division of Toshiba supplying transportation systems including ticket gates, ticket vending machines, and fare collection for rail operators in Japan and globally. Broad incumbent with overlapping fare collection product lines aimed at Japanese transit customers.
• Cubic Transportation Systems: US-based division of Cubic Corporation supplying fare collection, mobile ticketing, and real-time passenger information globally. A larger established player in the same fare collection category with broader geographic reach and a NextAccount platform competing with ABT concepts.

Others

• Sumitomo Mitsui Card (stera transit): Japanese card issuer behind the stera transit platform that Odawara's BOSS and SELF terminals integrate with. Listed as a partner but functions as an adjacent platform owner that could vertically integrate into transit hardware procurement decisions, affecting Odawara's strategic position.

Emerging players

• Masabi: UK-based provider of Justride mobile ticketing and Account-Based Ticketing platform used by transit agencies worldwide. Emerging peer because it bypasses traditional onboard fare boxes entirely via smartphone validation — a potential disruption vector for Odawara's hardware-centric model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 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 Odawara Auto-Machine Mfg