Fashion brand Uniqlo has come closer to full automation in its factories with the introduction of robots that can pick up t-shirts. Fast Retailing, the owner of the massive Uniqlo brand, is kitting out its warehouses with the textile-packing machines, developed with Japanese startup Mujin. While the industrial power and rigid frames of many logistics robots are suited to heavy loads, textiles are lighter and require a slightly softer touch to prevent damage. But footage shows the Intelligent Piece Packing Robot's curved arm using suction to cling to plastic-packaged t-shirts and place them neatly in boxes to be shipped to customers. 'We've been putting off working with an apparel company because it's so difficult,' said Issei Takino, co-founder and chief executive of Mujin, as quoted by the Financial Times.

At a warehouse in Tokyo's Ariake district once mainly staffed by people, robots are now doing the work of inspecting and sorting the clothing housed there by Japanese retailer Uniqlo. The company recently remodeled the existing warehouse with an automated system created in partnership with Daifuku, a provider of material handling systems. Now that the system is running, the company revealed during a walkthrough of the new facility, Uniqlo has been able to cut staff at the warehouse by 90%. The warehouse can now also operate 24 hours a day. The robotic system is designed to transfer products delivered to the warehouse by truck, read electronic tags attached to the products and confirm their stock numbers and other information. When shipping, the system wraps products placed on a conveyor belt in cardboard and attaches labels to them.

It's no surprise that Google used its Cloud Next 2018 event in Tokyo today -- one of a number of international Cloud Next events that follow its flagship San Francisco conference -- to announce a couple of new initiatives that specifically focus on the Japanese market. These announcements include a couple of basic updates like translating its Machine Learning with TensorFlow on Google Cloud Platform Coursera specialization, its Associate Cloud Engineer certification and fifty of its hands-on Qwiklabs into Japanese. In addition, Google is also launching an Advanced Solutions Lab in Tokyo as well. Previously Google opened similar labs in Dublin, Ireland, as well as Sunnyvale and New York. These labs offer a wide range of machine learning-centric training options, collaborative workspaces for teams that are part of the company's four-week machine learning training program, and access to Google experts.

Fast Retailing Co., the parent company of major retailer Uniqlo, has put out the welcome mat for Japan's small number of recognized refugees, offering job opportunities for some who might dream of careers in fashion or sales. Even so, for most refugees, language barriers and other issues remain hurdles as they try to establish their lives in Japan, often far from home. Refugees sometimes get jobs in factories, including auto manufacturers, and in the construction and nursing industries, but most are employed in washing and cleaning jobs, according to data from the Tokyo-based Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ), which helps legally recognized refugees find jobs. "They work at places where work can be done without speaking Japanese," said Hiroaki Ito, an official at RHQ. As of March 2016, RHQ, which also provides Japanese language and basic lifestyle education to refugees in the initial months after they arrive in Japan, had helped 396 refugees get work in Japan. Until 2016, Fast Retailing was the only high-profile company in the country employing refugees in Japan and abroad.

Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing Co. is betting that speed, both in supplying its stores with the latest fashion and getting custom-made products to shoppers, will allow it to overtake apparel powerhouse Zara. Fast Retailing plans to shorten the time it takes from design to delivery to about 13 days, roughly the same as Zara, owned by the world's biggest clothes retailer Inditex SA, Uniqlo's billionaire owner Tadashi Yanai said in an interview at the company's new design and delivery center that opened Thursday in an industrial area of Tokyo. The new complex will also help Uniqlo expand direct-to-consumer, custom-clothing sales and improve the efficiency of its same-day delivery in the Tokyo area, he said. "We need to be fast," he said. "We need to deliver products customers want quickly."