Teradyne’s robotics group makes $89M in Q3

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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, Cellular Industrial Robots (MiR), which simply merged with AutoGuide Cellular 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 firms 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 progress to 2 components. 

“First, slowing industrial exercise, particularly in Europe, the place PMI has dropped beneath 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 progress,” Smith stated throughout the firm’s Q3 earnings name. “Second, labor shortage continues in our distribution channel, which we anticipate to scale back progress by about 5 factors.”

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

UR has additionally seen loads of progress 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 Cellular Robots on the finish of Q3, with the built-in firm formally being referred to as Cellular Industrial Robots. The corporate’s headquarters will likely be in Odense, Denmark, the place MiR has been based mostly since 2013 when it was based.

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

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

“We heard again and again from massive clients that they had been struggling to implement complicated workflows as a result of complicated workflows typically want AMRs to work together with one another,” Smith stated. “The dominant method folks had been speaking about that taking place was by means of fleet administration. That was placing these clients 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 stated Teradyne desires 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 have a look at any AMRs, whether or not they’re ours or another person’s, clients can take as much as two years to go from an preliminary pilot to a quantity deployment. That’s as a result of they must work out their processes and adapt to the know-how,” he stated. “In some circumstances, like automakers, they must invent new jobs. They don’t have individuals who know the best way to preserve AMRs, in order that they have to determine the best way to match that into their union rules. That’s a posh subject to work by means of. We consider the final word vacation spot for AMRs has unimaginable potential, however we have to simplify the method. And simplifying that course of for us meant placing all of our AMRs below one software program management and interesting with clients as one group.

Smith stated 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 boost the MiR software program to deal with the upper speeds of the heavy payload automobiles from AutoGuide.

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