After announcing robotic production at its Auburn Hills facility in May 2015, ABB Robotics, a supplier of industrial robots and software, today announced the first sale of a U.S. manufactured robot to Indiana-based Hitachi Powdered Metals USA. The IRB 2600 robot is the first to be produced and was sold by ABB Value Provider CIM Systems, Inc.
The compact robot, which is painted with a commemorative red, white, and blue design, will be used for material handling of in-process engine equipment component parts at the Hitachi facility in Greensburg, Indiana. It’s the 108th ABB robot at the Hitachi plant, which installed its first in 2005.
“The sale of ABB’s first robot produced in the U.S. to Hitachi is a tremendous milestone in the development of our manufacturing presence in the Americas,” says Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s robotics and motion division. “It is a major step towards our goal of providing local customers with delivery schedules and technical support that are far superior to other robot manufacturers.”
Atiya adds that ABB was one of the first major industrial robot companies to “fully commit” to American manufactured robots, and that the delivery is consistent with ABB’s production schedule. The company has plans to begin manufacturing other popular robot models at the Auburn Hills facility this year, and estimates that 75 percent of all robots delivered to North American users will be U.S. made by 2018. Previously, ABB’s robots sold in the U.S. were made in Sweden and China.
Founded over 125 years ago, ABB currently operates in over 100 countries and has 132,000 employees.
