Franka Emika sells about 200 panda/ month
There is an interesting article about TQ Systems in the Handelsblatt. The company manufactures the Panda at its plant near Kempten/Allgäu. The article contains, among other things, this sentence: "Currently we build 200 robots a month, but it can become 2000," says Schneider. A large production hall in the Allgäu region is ready. (The quoted Detlef Schneider is co-founder and CEO of TQ Systems).
Whether there are really 200 pieces remains to be seen. For such an ambitious company as Franka, however, the number is low. This is all the more true given how eagerly educational institutions could be equipped with the Panda and Franka is in the fortunate position that TQ is pushing sales in Germany extremely briskly. However, the demand for cobots is only now increasing again and Corona has slowed down some things.
Nevertheless, the viewer is increasingly asking what Franka Emika has done with the money from the Voith entry. A second cobot model is not known, but participation in various research projects is. In the context of pandemic control, Franka most recently participated in a well-funded project on telemedicine. After Franka Emika entered the market, there were headlines such as "Franka Emika to become the Apple of robotics, but designed, developed and manufactured in Germany." Voith seemed to have thought along similar lines, spending €55 million for its 10% stake. The Franka valuation reached a proud 550 billion€, as this blog exclusively determined. A success comparable to that of Apple is currently not discernible.
Accustomed to always conclude an article with a video, I would have to pass this time. But fortunately there's Harry G.. The video has nothing to do with Franka.
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The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Boost-Bot . He advises robotics companies on market/business development and funding issues. The author is also available to potential users for a walk through of your production/ manufacturing(detail). Concrete proposals for the use of cobots and other robots, including funding opportunities, will be made. Both SMEs and large companies are visited. The standard book about cobots is also written by Guido Bruch.