Hanwha Precision Machinery, the robot manufacturing unit of Hanwha Group, said Tuesday the company signed a contract with Wipro, India’s largest information technology business, to work together on developing automated factory solutions.

Under the contract, the Hanwha unit will provide collaborative robots for network-based factory solutions aimed at automating manufacturing processes at various factories across India, led by its Indian partner.

The machinery unit is a subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace. 

A collaborative robot refers to one designed to be more human-friendly compared to existing industrial robots. Hanwha Precision Machinery launched its first collaborative robot, HCR-5, in March 2017.

Wipro is the largest IT software business in India, posting $8.4 billion in annual sales and $1.3 billion in net profit. It has about 170,000 employees.

The company was a computer hardware manufacturer, but has turned into a software solution provider on the growing market for factory automation solutions amid the move toward the “fourth industrial revolution.”

“Hanwha’s robot business will take the opportunity as establishing a sales network in India, expanding from the current overseas business in Europe, America and Asia,” said a company official.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)