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Common Robots, a part of Teradyne’s industrial automation group, just lately launched its UR20 cobot. | Supply: Common Robots
Teradyne noticed a small backslide in income in its industrial automation group, a 2% lower, in Q3 of 2022 in comparison with the identical time interval final yr. The group introduced in $89 million in income for Q3 2022.
The commercial automation group’s income is a decline from Q2 of this yr when it introduced in $101 million in income. The group consists of Energid, Cellular Industrial Robots (MiR), which simply merged with AutoGuide Cellular Robots, and Common Robots (UR). Energid’s income is included with UR’s.
Throughout Q3, UR introduced in $73 million, and MiR introduced in $16 million. UR gross sales decreased 5% throughout the quarter, whereas MiR gross sales rose 17% from the identical quarter final yr. Each firms noticed a lower in gross sales from final quarter when UR introduced in $83 million and MiR introduced in $17 million.
For the primary 9 months of 2022, 41% of Teradyne’s industrial automation gross sales had been to Europe, 29% to the U.S. and 11% to China and the rest to the remainder of the world.
Greg Smith, named president of Teradyne on July 1, 2022, attributed the slower-than-expected development to 2 elements.
“First, slowing industrial exercise, particularly in Europe, the place PMI has dropped beneath 50 in July and has remained in that contraction zone since. Europe is our largest finish marketplace for automation, and it is a 10-point headwind to development,” Smith stated throughout the firm’s Q3 earnings name. “Second, labor shortage continues in our distribution channel, which we count on to scale back development by about 5 factors.”
Regardless of gradual development, Teradyne is optimistic about UR’s future. The corporate has seen increased demand than anticipated for its increased payload UR20 cobot launched earlier this yr. Teradyne expects the UR20 to start out delivery in 2023 when it would begin contributing to monetary outcomes.
UR has additionally seen a number of development in welding. Its welding channel grew over 80% within the first 9 months of 2022 in comparison with the identical time final yr, and it expects to ship over 1,200 robots in that vertical.
Contained in the AutoGuide/MiR merger
Teradyne mixed MiR and AutoGuide Cellular Robots on the finish of Q3, with the built-in firm formally being referred to as Cellular Industrial Robots. The corporate’s headquarters shall be in Odense, Denmark, the place MiR has been primarily based since 2013 when it was based.
Previous to the merger, MiR supplied a spread of AMRs able to carrying payloads and pallets as much as 3,000 lb. (1350 kg). By combining with AutoGuide, the portfolio will broaden to incorporate high-payload AMR tuggers and forklifts that may function on the MiRFleet software program.
Smith stated Teradyne determined a few yr in the past that one of the simplest ways to distinguish its AMR enterprise was to supply a broad product line beneath a single software program management.
“We heard time and again from large clients that they had been struggling to implement complicated workflows as a result of complicated workflows usually want AMRs to work together with one another,” Smith stated. “The dominant approach individuals had been speaking about that occuring was via fleet administration. That was placing these clients into an uncomfortable place the place they didn’t know who to go to when issues from a number of distributors didn’t work proper. ”
Smith stated Teradyne desires to take duty for the efficiency of the {hardware} and software program and switch to companions to make sure a constructive buyer expertise.
“If you happen to take a look at any AMRs, whether or not they’re ours or another person’s, clients can take as much as two years to go from an preliminary pilot to a quantity deployment. That’s as a result of they must work out their processes and adapt to the expertise,” he stated. “In some instances, like automakers, they must invent new jobs. They don’t have individuals who know how you can preserve AMRs, so that they have to determine how you can match that into their union rules. That’s a posh subject to work via. We consider the last word vacation spot for AMRs has unimaginable potential, however we have to simplify the method. And simplifying that course of for us meant placing all of our AMRs beneath one software program management and interesting with clients as one group.
Smith stated the majority of the of labor went into remodeling the sensor suite of the AutoGuide robots to optimize their efficiency with MiR’s software program and to boost the MiR software program to deal with the upper speeds of the heavy payload automobiles from AutoGuide.
“The essential chassis stays the identical, however due to the upper high speeds, we have to look a lot additional forward of the car to react to obstacles and do the fitting factor. We needed to modify the sensor suite of the AutoGuide robots and improve the MIR software program so it might deal with the precise necessities of the heavy payload area. And that’s quicker velocity and extra management of the trail the AMRs take.”
