ABB, a Zurich-based automation technology provider, Wednesday opened a $20 million expansion to its U.S. robotics headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. The move comes as demand for automation grows not just in traditional industries like logistics and manufacturing, but also new ones, such as construction and healthcare. Advancements in the software side through artificial intelligence are allowing robots to be programmed to tackle more and more sophisticated tasks, said John Bubnikovich, president, ABB U.S. Robotics Division. They’re now in demand not simply to move packages around warehouses, but also performing DNA tests in labs and dispensing medication in pharmacies—new use cases only made possible by today’s AI software. ABB overall earns approximately $30 billion revenue, with the Robotics and Discrete Automation Business area robotics division making up $3.6 billion of that, the company said. The U.S., where it employs 18,000 people across all divisions, is ABB’s biggest overall market. The company produces robots for a range of applications, from very small robots that pick up and place down items to large ones that help manufacture cars. Ninety percent of the robots that ABB delivers to North and South America are manufactured in Auburn Hills. The $20 million expansion increased the plant’s manufacturing capacity by 30% and will enable it to be reactive to market demand across the Americas. Additionally, some funds went toward innovations on customer experience, as well as doubling the capacity of its training facility, which will allow ABB to train 5,000 of its customers’ employees a year on how to manage and work with the robots, Bubnikovich said. Bubnikovich said ABB chose to build out its presence in Michigan in part because of the region’s unique talent: the auto sector was one of the first to lean into automation and the Detroit area has maintained an attractive talent pool in terms of robotics skills.
Is your head still spinning from all the AI news of late? It will all seem so quaint when the useful humanoid robots arrive. See: Rise of the Robots: Breakthroughs in Humanoid Robotics and the Dawn of Embodied AI
