With massive industrial robots, Fanuc from Japan has grown bigger and bigger since it was founded in the early 1970s.

Along with ABB from Switzerland, the company is regarded as the top dog and market leader in the industry.

Currently, however, the development is different, Fanuc is getting smaller and smaller - at least as far as its robots are concerned.

Uwe Marx

Editor in Business.

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The group, which produces exclusively in Japan and runs its business in Germany with a subsidiary in Neuhausen near Stuttgart Airport, is increasingly focusing on so-called cobots.

In other words, those more delicate robots that carry lower loads but work outside of protective cages because they are harmless to humans.

They are collaborative helpers for a new clientele: crafts, smaller companies, everything is conceivable.

The main thing is what is known as handling, the transport or processing of light parts.

Buns for example.

They also decorate cakes

Like the Wiesheu company from Großbottwar, south-east of Heilbronn.

It is one of the largest manufacturers of baking machines in Germany, which you can find not only in bakeries but also in many supermarkets.

Baking on site is trendy.

When blanks for bread rolls are placed piece by piece on baking trays, pushed into the oven and then neatly distributed into sales containers, then the moment has come for Fanuc cobots.

They have sensitive grippers, cameras to recognize their surroundings, and a user interface that does not overwhelm non-specialist users.

They also decorate cakes, palletize goods in the warehouse, process food, weld.

Ralf Winkelmann, Managing Director of Fanuc Germany, says that a completely new market has opened up for his company and the entire industry.

Many potential customers were dealing with automation using robots for the first time.

And due to the shortage of skilled workers, there would be more and more.

Because cobots take over work steps that are monotonous and not very tempting and for which there are expected to be fewer and fewer employees.

Automation is also seen as the key to greater productivity.

A giant warehouse in Luxembourg

With a team of 300 people, Winkelmann contributes around 200 million euros to group sales of around 5.5 billion euros.

About the new world of robots, he says: "In the trade, the acceptance of robots depends on whether they are easy, i.e. intuitive to use."

On the other hand: “Cobots are certainly not the panacea that can solve all problems.” Sometimes customers end up with industrial robots after all.

Winkelmann has three branches in Germany, and a fourth is to be added soon.

From there, sales people and technicians swarm out.

Central next to Neuhausen, location of the European development center, is Luxembourg.

All products and spare parts from Japan arrive here, are stored and distributed to the European market as required.

The robots are only adapted on site to the requirements of the customers.

It is primarily a software task, a question of programming.

That seems outdated, but it suits Winkelmann.

The warehousing may seem unconventional, "but it is extremely robust in the supply chain chaos".

Fanuc always has a high availability of robots and spare parts, and that is an important prerequisite for looking after the customer's devices over their entire life cycle.

The idea of ​​the Japanese founders to keep production, research and development close together in Japan has proven itself.

The Robotics World Association has been reporting increasing numbers of robot sales for years, regardless of the world region;

Asia is also the driver in this field.

The consulting firm BCG estimated the market for robots at 260 billion dollars by 2030.

It would be a tenfold increase.

Cobots are usually not shown separately, but it is known who Fanuc is dealing with.

The groups in the industry - including Kuka and ABB - have new competition.

Critics also attribute the fact that a former start-up like Universal Robots from Denmark was able to become a 300 million dollar company with cobots to the inertia of the top dogs.

They have long since increased their involvement in the smaller robot segment.

In any case, Winkelmann feels in a comfortable position with a strong parent company behind him.

"A lot of ideas are born in the garage or in the laboratory," he says.

"But customers must also be able to earn money with cobots." When it comes to scaling, Fanuc can bring its expertise and many years of experience into play.