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Common Robots, a part of Teradyne’s industrial automation group, just lately launched its UR20 cobot. | Supply: Common Robots

Teradyne noticed a small backslide in income in its industrial automation group, a 2% lower, in Q3 of 2022 in comparison with the identical time interval final 12 months. The group introduced in $89 million in income for Q3 2022. 

The commercial automation group’s income is a decline from Q2 of this 12 months when it introduced in $101 million in income. The group consists of Energid, Cell Industrial Robots (MiR), which simply merged with AutoGuide Cell Robots, and Common Robots (UR). Energid’s income is included with UR’s. 

Throughout Q3, UR introduced in $73 million, and MiR introduced in $16 million. UR gross sales decreased 5% throughout the quarter, whereas MiR gross sales rose 17% from the identical quarter final 12 months. Each corporations noticed a lower in gross sales from final quarter when UR introduced in $83 million and MiR introduced in $17 million. 

For the primary 9 months of 2022, 41% of Teradyne’s industrial automation gross sales had been to Europe, 29% to the U.S. and 11% to China and the rest to the remainder of the world. 

Greg Smith, named president of Teradyne on July 1, 2022, attributed the slower-than-expected development to 2 elements. 

“First, slowing industrial exercise, particularly in Europe, the place PMI has dropped under 50 in July and has remained in that contraction zone since. Europe is our largest finish marketplace for automation, and this can be a 10-point headwind to development,” Smith mentioned throughout the firm’s Q3 earnings name. “Second, labor shortage continues in our distribution channel, which we count on to scale back development by about 5 factors.”

Regardless of sluggish development, Teradyne is optimistic about UR’s future. The corporate has seen larger demand than anticipated for its larger payload UR20 cobot launched earlier this 12 months. Teradyne expects the UR20 to begin delivery in 2023 when it would begin contributing to monetary outcomes. 

UR has additionally seen quite a lot of development in welding. Its welding channel grew over 80% within the first 9 months of 2022 in comparison with the identical time final 12 months, and it expects to ship over 1,200 robots in that vertical.

Contained in the AutoGuide/MiR merger

Teradyne mixed MiR and AutoGuide Cell Robots on the finish of Q3, with the built-in firm formally being referred to as Cell Industrial Robots. The corporate’s headquarters will probably be in Odense, Denmark, the place MiR has been primarily based since 2013 when it was based.

Previous to the merger, MiR supplied a spread of AMRs able to carrying payloads and pallets as much as 3,000 lb. (1350 kg). By combining with AutoGuide, the portfolio will broaden to incorporate high-payload AMR tuggers and forklifts that can function on the MiRFleet software program.

Smith mentioned Teradyne determined a couple of 12 months in the past that one of the best ways to distinguish its AMR enterprise was to supply a broad product line underneath a single software program management.

“We heard over and over from massive prospects that they had been struggling to implement advanced workflows as a result of advanced workflows typically want AMRs to work together with one another,” Smith mentioned. “The dominant manner individuals had been speaking about that occuring was by fleet administration. That was placing these prospects into an uncomfortable place the place they didn’t know who to go to when issues from a number of distributors didn’t work proper. ”

Smith mentioned Teradyne needs to take accountability for the efficiency of the {hardware} and software program and switch to companions to make sure a optimistic buyer expertise.

“If you happen to take a look at any AMRs, whether or not they’re ours or another person’s, prospects can take as much as two years to go from an preliminary pilot to a quantity deployment. That’s as a result of they need to work out their processes and adapt to the know-how,” he mentioned. “In some circumstances, like automakers, they need to invent new jobs. They don’t have individuals who know easy methods to keep AMRs, so that they have to determine easy methods to match that into their union rules. That’s a posh situation to work by. We consider the final word vacation spot for AMRs has unbelievable potential, however we have to simplify the method. And simplifying that course of for us meant placing all of our AMRs underneath one software program management and fascinating with prospects as one group.

Smith mentioned the majority of the of labor went into transforming the sensor suite of the AutoGuide robots to optimize their efficiency with MiR’s software program and to reinforce the MiR software program to deal with the upper speeds of the heavy payload autos from AutoGuide.

“The essential chassis stays the identical, however due to the upper prime speeds, we have to look a lot additional forward of the car to react to obstacles and do the fitting factor. We needed to modify the sensor suite of the AutoGuide robots and improve the MIR software program so it may deal with the precise necessities of the heavy payload area. And that’s quicker pace and extra management of the trail the AMRs take.”