Robohub.org
 

Swiss-based ABB to manufacture robots in US


by
24 May 2015



share this:
ABB factory in the US.

ABB factory in the US.

Robot manufacturing started in the US in 1961 when 26 Unimates – the first industrial robots – were made and deployed at a GM factory in Ewing, NJ. But, over the years, manufacturing and manufacturers have moved offshore. Until now.


unimate-at-work-in-nj_350_266_80In fact, the industrial side of the global robotics business has become an offshore enterprise, mostly headquartered in Europe and Japan. The business model has been to set up regional sales and service offices and develop a network of integrators, distributors and value-added resellers. Recently however, some of those manufacturers have begun to produce in-country for a variety of economic and political reasons. Kuka began operating a large manufacturing plant near Shanghai in 2014. Yaskawa began manufacturing at their Changzhou factory in 2013. And now, with this move by ABB, robot manufacturing on a big scale will return to the US.

The United States is ABB’s largest market with $7.5 billion in sales. ABB has invested more than $10 billion in local R&D, capital expenditure and acquisitions, increasing in-country employment from 11,500 to the present total. With this new factory, ABB now employs 26,300 in the US.

“Today, we are marking and celebrating the next stage of our commitment and growth in North America with the start of local robot manufacturing in Auburn Hills, US,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “ABB is the first global automation company to open a robot manufacturing facility in the United States. Robotics is a fundamental enabler of the next level of North American industrial growth in an increasingly competitive world. With our continued commitment and investment, our local team is well positioned to support our customers with robotics solutions made in the United States. Our leading technology of web-enabled, collaborative and safe robots will contribute to job security and quality of work.”

Products manufactured at the new facility will expand in phases. The goal is that most ABB robots and controllers, delivered in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, will be manufactured in Auburn Hills to streamline the delivery process and reduce lead times for customers.

BOTTOM LINE: The number of robots produced and being deployed is growing rapidly, particularly as their cost is lowered and their functionality is enhanced. ABB recently launched their new two-armed collaborative model YuMi, and also acquired gomTec, a startup with a one-armed collaborative robot. As these new lower-cost robots hit stride and become accepted in industrial factories and shops, the number of units sold will grow exponentially, hence having a manufacturing facility in one of the principle marketplaces (the US) makes good sense.



tags: , , , ,


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Engineering fantasy into reality

  26 Aug 2025
PhD student Erik Ballesteros is building “Doc Ock” arms for future astronauts.

RoboCup@Work League: Interview with Christoph Steup

and   22 Aug 2025
Find out more about the RoboCup League focussed on industrial production systems.

Interview with Haimin Hu: Game-theoretic integration of safety, interaction and learning for human-centered autonomy

and   21 Aug 2025
Hear from Haimin in the latest in our series featuring the 2025 AAAI / ACM SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants.

AIhub coffee corner: Agentic AI

  15 Aug 2025
The AIhub coffee corner captures the musings of AI experts over a short conversation.

Interview with Kate Candon: Leveraging explicit and implicit feedback in human-robot interactions

and   25 Jul 2025
Hear from PhD student Kate about her work on human-robot interactions.

#RoboCup2025: social media round-up part 2

  24 Jul 2025
Find out what participants got up to during the second half of RoboCup2025 in Salvador, Brazil.

#RoboCup2025: social media round-up 1

  21 Jul 2025
Find out what participants got up to during the opening days of RoboCup2025 in Salvador, Brazil.

Livestream of RoboCup2025

  18 Jul 2025
Watch the competition live from Salvador!



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence