Expansion: Motoman Robotics expands manufacturing in Ohio

Motoman SDA10D robot from Yaskawa (a dual-arm robot called “Dexter Bot”) wore a hard hat and turned the first shovel of dirt on a new 300,000 square foot state-of-the-art office and production facility, for the company's North and South American operations.

August 18, 2010

Motoman SDA10D robot from Yaskawa (a dual-arm robot called “Dexter Bot”) wore a hard hat and turned the first shovel of dirt on a new 300,000 square foot state-of-the-art office and production facility, for the company’s North and South American operations, on Aug. 13. The site will combine the current West Carrollton, Ohio headquarters, along with a manufacturing plant and a warehouse located in Troy, OH. The new facility will house approximately 250-275 employees, with the plan to expand the employee base and facility as the company expands its operations.  The 25-acre site allows for the building to be expanded by an additional 200,000 square feet to support this growth, the company said.

Located at the Austin Blvd/I-75 interchange (northwest corner; exit 41) in Miamisburg, Ohio. Attending were Steve Barhorst, president and COO of Motoman Robotics, a division of Yaskawa America, Inc., Jay Tsuda, president of Yaskawa Electric (Kitakyushu, Japan); Gen Kudo, chairman and CEO of Yaskawa America Inc. (Chicago, IL), and Dick Church, mayor of Miamisburg.

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Barhost said the “new facility has been designed and will be built with a customer and employee focus… while driving improved efficiencies to help us help our customers be more competitive.”

Construction will take approximately 10 months with an expected move-in date of June 2011. Company officials also took turns at the shovel, the Motoman announcement said.

Motoman Robotics, a division of Yaskawa America, Inc., was founded in 1989. The company said it is the second largest robotics company in the Americas with an installed base of approximately 30,000 units. Applications served include arc welding, assembly, coating, dispensing, material handling, material cutting, material removal and spot welding operations. Motoman Robotics’ parent, Yaskawa Electric Corporation, said it is the world’s leading robot manufacturer with an installed base of more than 200,000 robots and is the world’s largest manufacturer of ac drives and motion control products, including adjustable frequency drives, servo amplifiers, servomotors, machine controllers and motion controllers.

Also read:

Robot maker Motoman, 3D software provider Dassault Systemes offer digital manufacturing software to colleges;

Universal Robotics, Motoman partner on 3D vision systems; and 

Machine control: Robotic palletizing helps Hershey’s plan for change.

www.motoman.com

– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com