Robo Business

UR/MIR PARENT ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER FIGURES

Teradyne, parent company to Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), has announced its first quarter earnings for the three months to 31 March 2019.

The figures were ahead of estimates with quarter one revenues rising 1% to $494m; the market was looking for $476m. Q1 adjusted EPS rose 20% to $0.54, exceeding estimates of $0.44.

The Industrial Automation division revenue increased 35% in Q1, driven by a 16% increase in Universal Robots, as well as reflecting the acquisition of MiR in the prior year.

The outlook for the full year remains essentially unchanged, as pockets of strength such as 5G test are offset by softness in areas such as automotive test.

Guidance for the second quarter of 2019 is for revenue of $520m to $550m, with adjusted EPS of between $0.56 and $0.65 per diluted share, compared to consensus estimates of $0.58.

UK investment house Killik & Co said in its daily note: “This is a solid start to the year from Teradyne, highlighting steady execution against its longer-term opportunity set, whilst navigating short-term pockets of weakness in some of its more cyclical end-markets. We continue to like Teradyne for its dominant position in collaborative robots as well as other industries with secular growth opportunities. Whilst shares are trading above historical averages on 20.3x December 2019 consensus earnings, we believe estimates could see upgrades as we go through the year.”

CIMCORP ENTERS RUSSIAN DISTRIBUTION MARKET

Logistics automation specialist Cimcorp has partnered with Russian technology integrator FL Group to offer its robotic solutions to customers in Russia.

Cimcorp told RoboPro Magazine that it was entering the Russian distribution market in response to growing demand for increased speed in fresh produce logistics.

It is represented by FL Group, an industrial automation integrator based in St Petersburg.

Kai Tuomisaari, Cimcorp’s Vice President of Sales, said: “Grocery retail distribution in Russia is ripe for automation. Our robotic handling solutions enable retailers to maximise product freshness, which is key to optimising sales and enhancing the customer experience.”

Tatiana Borisova, CEO of FL Group, added: “Russian retailers need to respond dynamically to market demands to ensure operational cost efficiency and low pricing, while at the same time providing their customers with high-quality products and services. The quality issue is always critical for fruit and vegetables, which is why I believe that Cimcorp’s automation for fresh produce distribution has huge potential in Russia.”

Using robots that operate from overhead gantries, Cimcorp’s modular solutions provide instant access to every SKU, ultra-fast handling and total picking accuracy. “This means shorter lead-times and improved freshness for perishable products,” explained Tuomisaari. “Maximised shelf life can secure vital competitive advantage for our clients in the fresh produce, bakery and dairy sectors.”

Cimcorp’s automation combines buffer storage and order picking in one efficient, flexible and scalable operation. Products are handled gently in plastic crates, which are designed with excellent ventilation and are stacked directly on the floor. By avoiding the need for racking, the system ensures maximum space utilisation and also allows the entire working area to be cleared, full automatically, for hygienic cleaning. A standard robotic module – 30m long, 12m wide and 6m tall – is easy to install in existing warehouses, even in city locations. Computer control of all material flows ensures full tracking and traceability.

ROBOT COMPANY BLUE WORKFORCE GOES UNDER

Danish based Blue Workforce, which was founded in 2012, has gone bankrupt.

The company developed the RAGNAR Robot for use mainly in food packing and employed around 30 people from its Danish HQ, and three overseas subsidiaries.

Over the last two years it had received funds from investors of around £3.5m, but it is being reported that the company ran out of cash and that a further funding round was unsuccessful.

Founder and CEO Preben Hjørnet told Finance: “It really hurts. The funding round was intended to secure new working capital, but there was no support in the owner’s circle. Since we had no money for wages, we had to go bankrupt. We had a rescue plan, but just didn’t come to a goal. Now I hope that the company will succeed in a new construction.”

The last published accounts showed the company made a loss after tax of nearly £1m.

Those handling the bankruptcy are hoping to sell the company as a going concern and keep the brand alive.

BÖWE SYSTEC TAKES MAJORITY STAKE IN RED LEDGE

Böwe Systec, one of the world’s leading suppliers of smart automation solutions, has taken a majority stake in UK software engineering and automation supply chain specialist Red Ledge, which has joined the Böwe Systec Group.

Böwe Systec is part of the Possehl Group, which in its 2017 financial year generated a turnover of around 3.8 billion euros and employed some 12,500 people.

Founded in 1996, software company Red Ledge specialises in Auto-ID solutions. Its core expertise includes competitive software platforms such as warehouse management systems (WMS), warehouse control systems (WCS) and pharmaceutical serialisation systems. The company’s barcode, RFID, voice and sensor technologies are used worldwide in post and parcel sorting centres, warehouses and production facilities.

“As a ‘one-stop-shop’ we want to be the first port of call for all our customers’ intralogistics requirements,” said Böwe Systec managing director Joachim Koschier. “They should be able to source everything from us that they need to optimise their parcel sorting centre and their internal processes. From goods receiving to goods out – everything from one supplier. The acquisition of Red Ledge was therefore a logical step and is a cornerstone of our corporate strategy.”

“Our recipe for success is that we listen to what our customers need. With Red Ledge by our side not only can we supply the hardware, which is of course important and essential, but also the software that intelligently knits everything together. Red Ledge’s Warehouse Management

System (WMS) and Warehouse Control System (WCS) mean that we can offer our sorting customers substantial added value” added Böwe Systec managing director Dirk Van Vinckenroye.

Alan Wilcockson and Andy O‘Donnell are Red Ledge’s joint managing directors.

“We are a leading supplier of Auto-ID solutions and our systems allow us to control all aspects of intralogistics highly efficiently”, explained Alan Wilcockson. Andy O’Donnell added: “At Red Ledge we are involved in strongly growing and global markets. Working with Böwe Systec we will in future be able to undertake additional and larger projects in parcel and intralogistics markets. We see the merger as a win-win for both companies and we look forward to working together.”

NEW ROBOTICS: SHIFTING BUSINESS MODELS

A new report from IDTechEx (Cambridge, UK) entitled New Robotics: Shifting Business Models, analyses the changing trends in the robotics industry as new and emerging firms challenge the norm.

In an introduction to the report, it said: “Machine makers in many established markets sell their machines directly or through dealer networks. At times, they create additional revenue streams by offering technical after-sales support. They often hope that the installed base of their machines together with limited incompatibility with competitors’ products provides some lock-in mechanism. They also seek to build-in some technology obsolescence into their product cycles.

“Some also provide finance, directly or jointly with a finance entity, to help potential customers overcome the barrier of the upfront cost. Many traditional robot suppliers fit the description above. Integrators often install a robotic or automated solution and provide after-sale technical support. They make it difficult to integrate competitors’ robots with their solutions and offer regular hardware and software updates.

“New and emerging robotic firms however do not easily fit this bill. They are in fact challenging the established norms. This is sometimes through will and sometimes through necessity. The trend towards alternative models is evident across all sectors that new robotics seeks to impact. This includes retail, agriculture, logistics, delivery, security, cleaning, transport, and so on.”

As for the key sectors, the report summarised:

AGRICULTURE

Autonomous robots can provide automated precision weeding. Robotic intelligent implements can provide precision spraying or weeding too. The upfront machine or fleet costs are often high today. The technology risk for end users are also high. Users are often afraid that expert operators and repair persons will be needed. They worry that the technology is not tried and tested, especially in an agricultural environment. They fear that the technology is likely to rapidly evolve, exposing them to serious obsolescence risks. Crucially, they require seasonal services and are accustomed to paying wages and not making significant capital investments into machines with low utilization rates.

To address these challenges many companies are positioning as a RaaS- robotic as a service. They essentially become weeding service providers. They operate or monitor their own machines. They charge the customer per acre, a metric with which they are likely familiar. They absorb the technology risk. Crucially, they give their robots extensive field practice and will have the chance to gather data and feedback. This is important because the design of these products and services is still in a state of flux with many further iterations anticipated.

This positioning changes the nature of their business. Companies will require additional working capital and staff to absorb the service costs and to offer a sufficiently scaled service network. They cannot simply build to order to balance their cashflows. This is where partnerships will become important. This is also where early capital investments in case of start-ups becomes a necessity as most will operate heavily in the red in the early years of their operations.

With time and technology maturity the model may revert back to a traditional arrangement, or will it? This is an ongoing debate because traditional heavy agricultural machine makers will also need to adapt their models. This is inevitable because as vehicles become more autonomous, in navigation and task, the machine becomes the services, blurring the boundary between equipment sales and service provision. The whole value chains will need to adjust and even the dealers will need to find their sweet spots evolving their technical support into full blown remote robot operations?

LAST MILE DELIVERY

Many small robots are appearing worldwide to solve the productivity problem present at the last stage of the delivery process: the last mile. These small slow robots autonomously deliver small payloads to their final destinations. At the level of individual machines, there are highly unproductive. However, at the level of a large fleet, without a driver overhead per unit, they can become productive and commercially viable.

Here two business models have emerged. Some follow the traditional model of trying to sell their robots. Others are positioning as delivery firms staffed mainly by autonomous robots. This latter model is adopted for many good reasons. It is envisioned that the hardware will in the future become modular, standardized, and highly commoditized. Essentially the same fate as consumer drones awaits the hardware platform. Competing in such a business would not be easy for start-ups especially those based in California and similar start-up hubs.

Crucially also the robot companies require practice data. This is because they will need to improve their delivery and navigation algorithms so that one day they can operate large fleets in complex environments with high speed units. The data loop would be cut if they just sold a machine and walked out. The data acquisition is a fundamental part of product improvement without which the company would likely stall.

It will also open up the door to offering high value-added analytics services.

The technology is still immature. As such, it will require close monitoring and likely regular manual interventions to fix issues. As such, most players will, as a minimum, be forced to add a strong 24/7 service element to their business.

LOGISTICS

Robotic firms are emerging to enable autonomous robotic picking. These robots combine autonomous mobility with autonomous picking skills. Here too companies are frequently positioning themselves as a service provider, charging a monthly subscription fee or a $ per pick rate.

In this case too robotic companies require the data. Their picking algorithms are based on deep learning and as such without training data their product roadmap will likely stall. This would be very dangerous to their business prospects because today’s generation of products only manage to slowly pick regularly-shaped known objects in simple environments. The future however is fast picking of novel randomly-shaped items in complex environments. To traverse this competency gap, data will be indispensable. The users too will require ongoing support. They too will prefer not to absorb the technology risk especially since the technology- both hardware and software- are rapidly evolving. As such, a service model can prove win-win

SECURITY

Autonomous mobile robots are developed to perform various security related tasks. These robots are being designed for indoor, outdoor and even rugged terrain operation. They are essentially sensors-on-a-wheel. Some versions can have more than 50-onboard sensors, generating nearly 100 tera bytes of data per year per machine. These robots can be deployed wherever some type of security and monitoring is required.

Here too firms are not always adopting an outright equipment sales model. It is common to seek a subscription model for giving customers access to the machine, the interface, the data plan, the 24/7 support, etc. Here too such arrangements can be win-win. The suppliers will retain that crucial data loop in their business models, enabling them to improve their products, for example, by offering specialized algorithms able to detect, recognize, and analyse specific situations, e.g., from car number plate recognition to detection of dangerous gas leakages in an industrial site. Customers too will take this arrangement because it is closer to an end solution and makes it easier for them to test the technology and the new ways of working that it might enable.

RETAIL

Autonomous robots are also finding their way into retail stores, seeking to automate tedious tasks. In particular, they are being offered essentially as automated data acquisition tools, capturing data about items on the shelves with higher speed and accuracy than humans.

Here firms are positioning as full solution providers. This has many advantages. This future-proofs their business against hardware commoditization. They can accumulate hard-to-obtain and hard-to-copy knowhow and data which can then underpin their value-added data analytics services. Their customers too will be interested in a final solution and not another alien technology looking for a problem to solve.

At the end of the day, they are interested only in an impact on the bottom line, be it higher stock availability, better stock positioning on shelves, or leaner inventories. As such, data-centric service-oriented models can be winwin propositions.

This shift towards non-traditional business models permeates every sector. It is happening even with cars where the rise of mobility is fuelling serious debates about the future of mobility and the role of autonomous taxi fleets and shared facilities. In general, even if the business models are not radically redrawn the profit pool within the value chain will be re-balanced. This will change the winners and losers and will demand that all participates begin looking ahead and planning now.

H-FARM OPENS AN INNOVATION HUB IN SPAIN

H-FARM, an Italian innovation platform, has opened an innovation hub in Spain.

It will support the evolution of business models for Spanish companies through Open Innovation and Corporate Innovation.

The hub will be managed by Aleix Valls, former CEO of Mobile World Capital Foundation. In 2018, an increasing number of foreign companies, both large and mediumsized, chose H-FARM as a strategic partner to create new competitive business models, increasing foreign revenue by 13%.

H-FARM told RoboPro Magazine that to foster international growth, it has chosen Spain, a country that has had sustained economic growth since 2014, exceeding +3% per year, thus returning to pre-crisis levels and positioning itself well above the average of the Eurozone. This trend is also confirmed for 2019, with expected growth of over +2%.

It added that in recent years, Barcelona has become one of the most important centres for technology and innovation in Europe, thanks to an entrepreneurial ecosystem that continues to attract investments, a wide pool of talent and a high quality of life. Rankings indicate that the Catalan city is the third most -preferred by European entrepreneurs in which to create start-ups and fourth in the ranking of the ten technological hubs in the EU by number of startups.

H-FARM’s goal in Spain is to become a reference point for companies that want to raise their competitiveness in the marketplace and innovate their business models through increased attention to digitalization and emerging technologies. A dedicated team will accompany the companies in each stage of their growth path, from the definition of the strategy to the design of new services, from the development of applications and technology solutions. The projects will have a focus on Innovation Culture – the growth of human capital – and Open Innovation, in order to create processes of collaboration between Corporates and Startups as an answer to the challenges and objectives of each company.

Aleix Valls (above left), CEO of H-FARM BCN, said: “We are really proud to become part of H-Farm family. With this joint venture effort we assure H-Farm position as a leading digital innovation platform into Spanish market”.

Timothy O’Connell (above right), Head of Global Business Development, commented regarding the opening of the new company, which is 51% owned by H-FARM: “We are very happy to have the opportunity to open a hub in Barcelona: we aim to create a strong synergy between our experience of over 14 years as an innovation platform and that of Aleix as a key player in promoting digital transformation in the Spanish economic and business system.” RB