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Electronics Production |
ABB to manufacture robots in the United States
ABB will start production of robots in the United States, making it the first global industrial robotics company to commit to and invest in a North American robotics manufacturing footprint.
The company made the announcement at the opening of a new robotics plant at an existing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where it already has about 500 employees. Production is to commence immediately.
The new plant is ABB’s third robotics production facility, alongside Shanghai, China, and Västerås, Sweden, and will manufacture ABB robots and related equipment for the North American market.
The United States is ABB’s largest market with USD 7.5 billion in sales. The company has invested more than US D10 billion in local R&D, capital expenditure and acquisitions since 2010, taking local employment from 11'500 to 26'300. And continued investment in the North American value chain and manufacturing is a key part of ABB’s growth plans.
“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,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer.
“The new North American manufacturing presence elevates our offering and service to robotics customers in the United States, Mexico and Canada, allowing us to achieve best-in-class delivery schedules and technical support in North America,” said Per Vegard Nerseth, Managing Director of ABB Robotics. “The expansion is consistent with our global strategy, which is to establish a local presence in key robotics growth markets to provide our leading technology to our customers. Thanks to the strong robotics market, I’m confident we will expand our workforce here to a total of 1'000 highly skilled employees in the not-too-distant future.”
The portfolio of products manufactured at the new facility will expand in phases, with the goal that most ABB robots and robot controllers delivered in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be manufactured in Auburn Hills.
