Japan's Leading Manufacturing Hub, Kansai, Accelerates Transformation with Comprehensive Exhibition '[Kansai] Factory Innovation Week 2026' to be Held from May 13-15, 2026

RX Japan LLC will hold the "2nd [Kansai] Factory Innovation Week," a comprehensive exhibition supporting the resolution of issues and transformation in the manufacturing industry, for three days from Wednesday, May 13 to Friday, May 15, 2026, at Intex Osaka. This exhibition is one of the largest manufacturing industry events in Kansai, covering key themes such as DX promotion, automation, decarbonization, and labor shortage countermeasures.

[Kansai] Factory Innovation Week is composed of the following four specialized exhibitions, providing opportunities to encounter specific technologies and solutions for the challenges faced by manufacturing sites:

* [Kansai] Smart Factory EXPO (Manufacturing DX, IoT, AI)
* [Kansai] RoboDEX (Robot Development, Introduction, Automation)
* [Kansai] Manufacturing Carbon Neutral Exhibition (Decarbonization, Energy Countermeasures)
* [Kansai] Manufacturing Labor Shortage Countermeasures EXPO (Recruitment, Education, Retention, Labor-saving)

*Largest in Kansai: Comparison of the number of exhibitors and product display area with similar types of exhibitions, including co-exhibitors.

## Background of the Event | Why Hold it in Kansai Now

The Kansai region is one of Japan's leading manufacturing hubs, with manufacturing bases in a wide range of industrial fields such as automotive, electronics, semiconductors, machinery, and materials. On the other hand, manufacturing sites are required to respond to complex challenges such as delays in DX promotion, worsening labor shortages, and demands for decarbonization measures. Against this backdrop, RX Japan is holding [Kansai] Factory Innovation Week as a "place where Kansai's manufacturing industry can encounter the next technologies that will lead to site transformation."

## Features of This Exhibition | Covering Key Manufacturing Industry Themes Comprehensively

This exhibition comprehensively showcases the latest technologies and services through four specialized exhibitions, addressing themes directly linked to both management and on-site operations in the manufacturing industry, such as DX, automation, decarbonization, and human resource challenges. Visitors can efficiently compare and consider the latest technologies and services across multiple fields according to their company's challenges.

### "[Kansai] Smart Factory EXPO" to Visualize DX in Manufacturing Sites

The "[Kansai] Smart Factory EXPO" focuses on DX (Digital Transformation) in manufacturing, bringing together the latest solutions to support the advancement and efficiency of factories and manufacturing sites through IoT, AI, FA, and data utilization. Currently, manufacturing sites face complex intertwined challenges such as visualizing equipment and processes, improving through data utilization, resolving reliance on individual expertise, and responding to labor shortages. A key feature of this exhibition is its ability to comprehensively address everything from understanding technology at the product/equipment level to optimizing the entire factory and promoting DX. As a place to gain concrete hints from the perspectives of technology, systems, and operations in response to the question "How to transform the site?", the [Kansai] Smart Factory EXPO is one of the core exhibitions constituting [Kansai] Factory Innovation Week.

### "[Kansai] RoboDEX" for On-site Understanding of Automation and Robot Utilization

"[Kansai] RoboDEX" is a specialized exhibition that broadly covers robot-related technologies, including industrial robots, AGVs/AMRs, humanoid robots, and assist suits active in factory and logistics sites, as well as peripheral equipment such as sensors and grippers, and development technologies for robots. In manufacturing sites, against the backdrop of labor shortages and increased workload, the focus is increasingly on how humans and robots can collaborate, not just on simple automation. At [Kansai] RoboDEX, robot technologies and concrete application proposals are introduced, looking at development, introduction, and utilization to address such challenges. A major feature is the ability to view robot introduction not merely as an isolated equipment consideration, but from the perspective of optimizing the entire factory and redesigning the production system.

### "[Kansai] Manufacturing Carbon Neutral Exhibition" for Practical On-site Decarbonization Measures

The "[Kansai] Manufacturing Carbon Neutral Exhibition (Green Factory EXPO)" is a specialized exhibition themed around decarbonization and environmental measures in manufacturing. It brings together technologies and solutions for achieving carbon neutrality in factories, such as energy visualization, CO₂ emission management, energy-saving equipment, renewable energy, and environmental impact reduction technologies. In recent years, while environmental regulations and demands for decarbonization across the entire supply chain have increased, many manufacturing companies face challenges like "where to start" and "how to implement it on-site." This exhibition introduces practical approaches that consider everything from the conceptual stage to introduction and operation.

### "[Kansai] Manufacturing Labor Shortage Countermeasures EXPO" Directly Addresses Manufacturing's "Human" Challenges

The "[Kansai] Manufacturing Labor Shortage Countermeasures EXPO" is a specialized exhibition focused on the challenges of labor shortages, talent acquisition, and skill succession faced by the manufacturing industry. It brings together services and solutions supporting talent "recruitment, development, retention, and utilization," including recruitment support, education/training, reskilling, technology transfer, and talent management for manufacturers. Manufacturing sites are experiencing increasingly complex and advanced human-related issues, including chronic labor shortages, the aging of skilled technicians, training of young personnel, and the acquisition of new skills due to the introduction of digital technologies. This exhibition introduces implementable measures from the perspectives of systems, structures, and tools to address such challenges. It serves as a venue for considering talent challenges not merely as "recruitment difficulties" but as a critical management theme supporting the sustainable competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.

## Featured Programs

### Learn the Forefront of "Physical AI" Driving the Future of Manufacturing at the "Physical AI Open Seminar"

The "Physical AI Open Seminar" will be held to learn about the latest technological trends and application possibilities of Physical AI, which is gaining attention in the manufacturing sector. This seminar will cover topics such as "Physical AI Robotics," "Intelligent/Recognition/Control AI," and "Sensor Technology," introducing concepts and technological trends for connecting AI not just as "software utilization" but also with actual machinery, robots, and manufacturing sites.

As the industry faces demands for responding to labor shortages and increasingly sophisticated manufacturing processes, Physical AI is expected to play a crucial role in the future of manufacturing, supporting human-machine collaboration, productivity improvement, and site autonomy. It offers practical insights for visitors considering the next steps for their manufacturing operations.

### Understand the "Present" and "Future" of AI Utilization in Manufacturing Sites at "AI Table (Expert Dialogue)"

The seminar series "AI Table (Expert Dialogue)," which disseminates the latest trends in AI utilization in the manufacturing industry, will be held specifically for "manufacturing sites" at this exhibition. At AI Table, experts well-versed in AI, data utilization, and manufacturing will gather to discuss how to implement generative AI and AI utilization into actual sites and achieve results, delving into case studies and challenges.

Currently, while interest in AI utilization is high in manufacturing sites, many companies face dilemmas in the implementation phase, such as "where to start" and "how to apply it to our business." This program will feature discussions from a "practical, on-site perspective" that goes beyond mere technical theory to address such questions. AI Table is a notable seminar that provides practical hints for connecting AI utilization in manufacturing not as a temporary trend but as a driver of site transformation.

## Approximately 60 Companies Exhibiting from the Kansai Region

This exhibition will feature approximately 60 companies based in the Kansai region, a hub for manufacturing. Kansai, as an area where final product manufacturers, component/equipment suppliers, and processing facilities are located in close proximity, possesses a fertile ground for the generation of technologies honed through practice and continuous improvement. By bringing together companies possessing technologies cultivated in such an environment, this exhibition will showcase numerous exhibits that allow visitors to experience "real technological capabilities" rooted in manufacturing sites. The depth of region-specific technologies, made possible by holding the event in Kansai, is a major highlight of [Kansai] Factory Innovation Week. Through this exhibition, RX Japan aims to promote the power of Kansai's manufacturing to the rest of Japan and the world.

*Kansai refers to (Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture)

★ General visitors can register here: [Link provided in original text]

## Event Overview

Name: 2nd [Kansai] Factory Innovation Week
Date: Wednesday, May 13 - Friday, May 15, 2026
Venue: Intex Osaka
Organizer: RX Japan LLC
Official Website: https://www.fiweek.jp/osaka/ja-jp.html

**[Concurrent Exhibitions]
** * 2nd NEPCON JAPAN [Kansai]
* 14th Highly-Functional Material Week [Osaka] -Highly-Functional Material Week-
* 2nd Photonix [Osaka] -Photonics & Laser Technology Exhibition-
* 2nd Recycle Tech JAPAN [Osaka]

Keywords: Factory Innovation Week, Manufacturing Industry, Manufacturing DX, Smart Factory, Factory Automation, Robots, Carbon Neutral, Labor Shortage Countermeasures, AI, Intex Osaka