TOKYO -- Japanese electronics manufacturer Omron is investing in Techman Robot, a manufacturer of collaborative robots in Taiwan and a subsidiary of Quanta Computer.

Omron will acquire a 10% stake in Techman, a leader in the field of collaborative robots, so called because they are often employed alongside human labor. The Japanese company did not disclose the investment amount but said that it will acquire the shares by December. Quanta is a major Taiwanese contract manufacturer.

Techman is the second biggest collaborative robot manufacturer in the world. Omron believes there is growing demand for such robots given the COVID-19 pandemic as companies try to separate workers in order to curb infections.

Japan also faces an acute labor shortage which could be alleviated by the use of robots.

Omron wants to triple its revenue from robotics-related businesses to 70 billion yen ($616 million) by fiscal 2024. It had formed a partnership with Techman in 2018 to market and sell those robots globally.

The two companies plan to jointly develop innovative robot solutions by using Omron's factory automation equipment and Techman's collaborative robots by 2023. These robots will ensure safety at manufacturing sites and will also be able to work as fast as humans.

Omron entered the robotics industry in 2015 when it bought a U.S. industrial automation manufacturer for about 24 billion yen.

As of last year, Omron's revenue from industrial automation reached around 346 billion yen, which is about half of its total.

Conventional robots used in factories require a safety cordon that separates them from human employees. Collaborative robots are equipped with a safety function that freezes them when they detect contact with a person.

According to market research firm Fuji Keizai, the global market for collaborative robots is expected to reach 215 billion yen by 2025, three times the size in 2020. The global leader is Denmark's Universal Robots, who has a market share of about 50%, followed by Techman with 10%.