Tell us about your company.

Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) is a leading manufacturer of collaborative, autonomous mobile robots (AMR). We are dedicated to developing user-friendly, flexible and safe robots to help companies increase the efficiency of their operations. Our AMRs are advanced mobile robots that offer a rapid return on investment, often with a payback period of less than a year.

As a first mover in the field, we have enjoyed rapid, worldwide adoption by manufacturers and companies in other industries wanting to automate their in-house transportation. We have branch offices in Odense (HQ), Dortmund, Frankfurt, Shanghai, Singapore, San Diego and New York, and through an extensive distributor network that currently consists of 164 distributors in 46 countries.

Your company will be exhibiting at AUTOMATE, what is it that makes this an important event for your company?

Exhibiting at Automate gives us the change to demonstrate our mobile robots for North American manufacturing professionals looking for the best automation technologies to help solve their unique business challenges. North America is our largest market, and we are looking forward to showing how our robots can optimize internal logistics and workforce challenges for all types and sizes of companies across different sectors.  

What makes your booth a must visit for AUTOMATE Attendees?

We will showcase our new fleet management system, entire fleet of autonomous mobile robots, including the MiR100, MiR200 and the MiR500, the newest robot that is designed to automate the transportation of pallets and heavy loads across industries. With a payload of 500 kg, high speed and a footprint of 1350 x 920 mm, the large, powerful and robust mobile cobot can optimize almost any internal transportation of heavy loads and pallets.  

Our highly flexible MiR200 and MiR100 autonomously transport up to 200kg (440 lbs) and 100kg respectively. Our entire range of robots can be mounted with customized top modules, and we will be showcasing the MiR200 and MiR100 with different applications for customization of the robots. We will demonstrate our robots with a robot arm on top, with a conveyor band, with a delivery station to connect with production lines and with the MiRHook that can pick up, transport and deliver carts.  

Since we’re always working to meet the needs of our customer, don’t be surprised to see another new product or two at our booth!  

AUTOMATE has many educational sessions, forums & demo’s, is your company involved in any of them this year?

In addition to showcasing our autonomous mobile robots and top modules from companies such as Nord Modules and ROEQ, we’ve been invited to participate in two prominent sessions this year. Our CEO, Thomas Visti, will represent Europe in the IFR Robotics Round Table focused on the “Global race for leadership in robotics and AI” on April 8 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.   

And on April 10 at 8 a.m., Ed Mullen, our VP of sales in the Americas, will participate on a panel entitled “Autonomous Mobile Robots Support a Lean Approach to Business Operations,” with IDC research director John Santagate and Silas Robertson of Olympus Controls. They’ll discuss how manufacturers can use automation, specifically AMRs, to easily and cost-effectively optimize their internal transport.

When you get a chance to walk the exhibit hall floor yourself, what is it you will be most interested to see?  Any educational sessions, pavilions etc. you plan on attending?

Automate covers a very big range of products for the manufacturing industry, from AMRs, to collaborative robot arms to motion control, machine vision and other technologies that are advancing automation overall for companies of all sizes. We’re looking forward to seeing the latest  innovations within automation and robotics in general, and possibly finding additional suppliers and partners we can work with as we continue to advance our product line.

The factory floor is undertaking rapid advancements, be it automation, robotics, machine vision or data.  Automation Technology is a huge part for many manufacturers, give us an idea on how your company and product is being utilized now in the smart factory.

Manufacturers are adopting our autonomous mobile robots to automate their internal transportation and logistics, and they are seeing many of the same benefits in their “smart factories:”

• optimized workflow

• increased productivity and reduced costs as employees are moved to higher value tasks

• fewer injuries (and subsequent compensation claims) as often unsafe forklifts – and repetitive load-and-lift activities – are replaced with the these user-friendly, flexible and safe robots.

For example, the Kverneland Group in Denmark is using our MiR500 reduce the amount of indoor truck driving in order to improve the working environment and productivity; and Metro Plastics in Indianapolis has improved overall efficiencies in their quality control process, reducing waste and driving competitiveness, while making their workers safer by eliminating nearly every forklift.

And AMRs are definitely a smart choice for these companies, many of which are facing shrinking product lifecycles with frequently changing customer demands, which means they need agile production and flexible factory layouts that can be easily modified as needed. That isn’t possible with forklifts, conveyor belts, or automated guided vehicles (AGV) that require permanent wires, magnetic stripes or sensors embedded in production floors.

Give us your thoughts on what the future holds for manufacturers and automation technology.

AI isn’t just a buzz word. It is the future of automation technology, including the future of our AMRs. MiR is looking at implementing this technology to make our robots even smarter with better navigation that will enable them to recognize the different types of obstacles they might encounter and react accordingly. Smarter robots make it easier and more compelling for manufacturers and other customers to install entire fleets of robots to help improve their logistics and contribute to the overall success of their businesses.

As manufacturers learn more about mobile robots, they’ll start to discover new applications that can benefit. In fact, we continue to growth our eco-system of manufacturers that are building top modules for our robots, making it easier for customers to have mobile robot solutions out of the box and speed up the integration process.

The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of RoboticsTomorrow

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