Bosch Rexroth has signed a strategic co-operation agreement with Japan`s second largest pneumatics company, the Koganei Corporation.

The deal, signed by Dr Eberhard Bauer (left), general manager of Bosch Rexroth`s pneumatics business, and Koganei president Yasuhi Tsutsumi, will strengthen and extend Rexroth`s pneumatics portfolio and give it access to the Japanese market.

It will also help to boost Rexroth`s presence in the electronics and semiconductor sector, which accounts for 15-20% of the pneumatics market. Koganei, Japan`s only independent pneumatics manufacturer, focuses on this sector.

Koganei employs around 700 people and has annual sales worth around £130m.