OnRobot was born a global company in June 2018 with the merger of Danish On Robot, Hungarian OptoForce and American Perception Robotics. Danish company Purple Robotics was welcomed into the fold a short time later. The IP assets belonging to Blue Workforce were acquired in April 2019. Each company was known for developing unique technologies for collaborative applications and together they represent a formidable catalogue of the industry’s best tools. The tools include grippers, sensors, tool changers and software that enable small and medium sized manufacturers to automate their processes like never before – quickly, efficiently and cost-effective.
Interview with Vikram Kumar, General Manager at OnRobot.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Vikram Kumar: OnRobot products open new possibilities for automating tasks offering all the tools companies need to implement collaborative applications in their production processes. OnRobot gripping and sensing systems for industrial automation let companies easily design truly collaborative applications that enable the workforce to work side-by-side with collaborative robots on activities like assembly, surface finishing, pick and place, machine tending or testing.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
V.K: Last month at IMTS, we debuted what we have been preparing for years: the industry’s first automated, application-centered software platform for robotic deployment. – D:PLOY.
D:PLOY will revolutionize and simplify automation for manufacturers in almost every industry, offering a dramatic 80% reduction in robot deployment time. Users simply define the robot’s workspace, and enter attributes of the workpiece. D:PLOY automatically generates all the program logic, signal exchange, event handling, path planning, and real-time monitoring for the full application.
D:PLOY is a turning point in our strategic evolution that began with its line of intuitive robotic tools and software, expanding the concept of collaborative automation.
Another of our last products also launched in the past recent months is OnRobot Palletizer, a complete collaborative palletizing solution designed to take the physical and financial pain out of palletizing processes.
OnRobot Palletizer extends OnRobot’s application-first approach to collaborative automation by letting users choose a palletizing system that works for their specific application needs thanks to its space saving footprint, and ability to handle many different types of boxes, packages, patterns, pallets and stacking heights. Compatible with collaborative robot and light industrial robots from the Doosan, FANUC, OMRON, Techman and Universal Robots brands, the OnRobot Palletizer is available as a complete out-of-the-box system or as individual components to create a mix-and-match solution.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
V.K: We offer the industry’s broadest range of end-of-arm tooling and software solutions for collaborative applications, using a unified mechanical interface that helps manufacturers automate quickly and efficiently.
OnRobot’s product range features a wide range of tools for collaborative applications, including electric, vacuum and magnetic grippers, award-winning Gecko gripper technology, soft gripper certified for the food industry, force/torque sensors, a 2.5D vision system, screwdrivers, sanding kits and tool changers, palletizing solution, WebLyticis a software tool providing real-time, application-focused data for production monitoring, device diagnostics and data analytics. And now D:PLOY
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
V.K: Even as rising costs of energy, raw materials and the scarcity of electronic components are hurting all branches of the global economy, the demand for industrial robots has never been stronger.
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) has unveiled its latest annual report, the World Robotics Report 2022, and the figures are dazzling: half a million robots installed in 2021, an absolute record!
If experts had estimated an increase of 50,000 more robots than in 2020, or 430,000, it finally sold 517,000, a growth rate of 31% between 2020 and 2021!
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
V.K: As a result of the pandemic and the subsequent disruption of supply chains, more and more companies have considered repatriating their production tools to Europe. Faced with a shortage of talent and rising energy costs, many are rightly turning to cobotics, this is a clear trend we are perceiving in our market.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
V.K: D:PLOY is from far not just the most innovative product we market but it will be the the biggest innovation since the robot in the market.
D:PLOY is a foundational market shift that will change the way automation is deployed, expanding the market at the same time. It will help change how we think about collaborative automation, broadening its accessibility and improving success for manufacturers in almost any industry
E.E: What estimations do you have for the rest of 2022?
V.K: With all the activities planned and going on such as Roadshows, seminars, and Exhibition in Q3 and Q4 of 2022, estimations are positive for rest of 2022. Our delivery of OnRobot products is still 1 -3 days ex stock Denmark, but there are challenges with the other supply chain components, which needs to be taken care.
OnRobot
Tel.: +45 53 53 57 37
Mobile: +45 22 76 00 43
E-mail: vikram.kumar@onrobot.com
