KUKA robotics

kuka Robotics, an innovation and technology leader in the industrial robotics sector, was able to again expand its market share in 2009 and thus its market leadership position in a number of sectors. Despite targeting a wide variety of different markets, the division’s key business numbers were down significantly from the year prior due to the economic crisis. With the launch of a new generation of industrial robots and a beta site for “sensing” robots, the division continues to expand its market share.

high-tech robots – for any application

kuka Robotics’ core competence is in the development, manufacturing, sales and service of industrial robots suitable for any application and any industry sector, in addition to linear units, positioners and mobile platforms. The product portfolio includes robots with a payload of from 5 to now 1,300 kg. Highly flexible kuka robots are now being used in over twenty general industry sectors; i. e., in all markets outside the automotive sector. Here kuka has an international network of systems partners that offer sector-specific manufacturing lines based on kuka Robots. kuka and its associates work hand-in-hand to continuously expand into new fields of application and markets.

The product portfolio has a modular structure, which enables kuka to offer customized packages, even though components are manufactured serially. In 2009, six new robots were added to the portfolio. The kr 16 arc hw (hollow shaft design) is especially suited to welding large components; e. g., heavy metal plates. The kr 16 L8 arc hw has a long reach – up to 2,015 mm. In addition, the payload of the kr Titan heavy load robot was increased by 300 kg to 1,300 kg. This version of the world’s strongest industrial robot can be used for palletizing tasks. At the same time, the new palletizing robots kr 300 pa, 470 pa and 700 pa were presented at ligna 2009, the leading international trade fair for the forest and wood industry. kuka Robotics thus now has the widest assortment of palletizing robots in the world. They are primarily used in internal logistics; e. g., in the food, wood, building materials, metals and electronics industries.

worldwide sales slump

Global demand for industrial robots plummeted due to the economic crisis. The negative developments had already started in the fourth quarter of 2008. The International Federation of Robotics (ifr) determined that in 2009, the number of robots sold (units) was down 50 percent from the year prior. The automotive industry was particularly hard hit by these developments. The sector’s sales plunged and spending on new manufacturing lines and industrial robots was subsequently cut back.

This is why life cycle cost considerations are becoming increasingly important with this group of customers. Not only acquisition costs, but also the costs incurred during subsequent operation are key when making an investment decision. Life cycle costs improve the competitiveness of kuka’s low maintenance, upgradable Robots, especially when they are refurbished to extend their service life. Overall, the division’s orders received in 2009 from the automotive industry dropped 38.1 percent year-over-year to € 104.9 million. The new generation of industrial robots that will be launched at the end of the current financial year aims to reinforce kuka Robotics’ leading market position in the automotive sector.

flexible capacities ensured operating profit close to breakeven

In total, the Robotics division’s orders received and sales revenues were down sharply in fiscal 2009, falling 30.2 percent and 30.3 percent respectively from last year’s levels because of the weak demand for capital goods caused by the economic crisis. At the same time, order backlog declined 6.3 percent, from € 100.2 million on December 31, 2008 to 93.9 million in 2009. Still, kuka Robotics’ business performance was better than the overall market because of the company’s strong technological market position and its strong customer orientation. The division responded to the slump in demand by adjusting its capacity. This was done primarily by means of the flexible working time model agreed last year, introducing shortened work times and reducing the number of temporary workers. Overall, the division was thus able to report a slightly negative operating result (ebit) of € – 1.9 million before one-time expenditures. In total, the operating result (ebit) for 2009 was € – 11.5 million, which compares to last year’s € 42.0 million. As a result of capacity adjustments and transfers to kuka ag’s Shared Service Center, the total number of employees was down 11.1 percent. However, the high level of research and development spending remained unchanged. Due to the decline in sales revenues, the r&d ratio rose to 10.1 percent.

factory restructuring in hungary

In 2009, the number of Hungarian factories was cut from four to two to reduce fixed production costs. Series control cabinets production is now concentrated in Füzesgyarmat on the Romanian border and custom products are made in Taksony near Budapest. This resulted in a substantial drop in the total cost of wages and facilities leasing for control cabinet assembly.

new distribution center in china

The Robotics division continued to implement its growth strategy in the emerging nations of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe despite the tough business situation. The focus of the expansion in sales related activities was on the Republic of China and Eastern Europe. In January 2009, a new distribution center for Asia was opened in Shanghai. This enabled the company to shorten lead times in the steadily expanding Asian markets and improved its ability to adjust to market needs. At the same time, a new office was opened in the Czech Republic. The division now has sales organizations and manufacturing facilities in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia, all part of its targeted Eastern European region. A sales organization was also added in Canada in 2009. kuka is thus represented by its own subsidiaries in the countries in which about 95 percent of the world’s industrial robots are installed. The remaining countries are served via partners.

kuka robotics – key figures

(in € millions)

		2008		2009		Change in %
Orders received		464.4		324.3		– 30.2
Sales revenues		474.4		330.5		– 30.3
Operating result (ebit)		42.0		– 11.5		–
Operating result (ebit) excluding special expenditures		42.0		– 1.9		–
% of sales		8.9		– 3.5		–
% of capital employed (roce)		37.2		– 9.5		–
Capital employed		112.9		120.5		6.3
Employees (Dec. 31)		2,261		2,009		– 11.1

service increasingly important

kuka Robotics’ broadly based international service network is another indicator of its customer orientation. General and automotive industry customers around the world are served by 500 employees in 25 countries. The Service business unit covers not only training, maintenance, repairs and spare parts for robots, but also robotics-related engineering services. kuka also benefits from the trend in the automotive industry to retool existing automated assembly lines equipped with robots. Overall, total orders received by the service business unit in 2009 thus declined at a less than average 23.2 percent compared to last year and fell to € 77.3 million.

restrained general industry business

The general industry markets were characterized by restrained capital spending due to the tightened financing conditions. kuka Robotics further expanded its general industry market share, particularly in the food and health care markets, which are less affected by economic swings. Nevertheless, overall general industry orders received in 2009 were down 26.9 percent year-over-year, falling from € 194.3 million last year to € 142.1 million, while this market segment’s share of the division’s total orders received rose two percent and went from 41.8 percent in 2008 to 43.8 percent in 2009.

pioneering work in health care

kuka Robotics is the world’s first manufacturer to offer medical robotics technology for angiographic x-raying, which is used for human blood vessel imaging. A combined x-ray C-arm and modified kuka robot offers doctors completely new x-raying options. The robot gives the doctor previously unattainable flexibility for taking x-rays at high speed. The quality of the images generated approaches that of computer tomography. Robot supported x-ray systems are therefore increasingly also used for operations.

On November 2, 2009, Baden-Württemberg’s then premier Günther H. Oettinger opened a new ion beam radiotherapy center at the Heidelberg University clinic. It is designed to provide ion-beam treatment around-the-clock for up to 1,300 patients annually. The therapy center focuses on treating brain and eye tumors in adults, as well as treating children’s tumors. Here kuka robots are used for positioning patients and for x-ray imaging. Similar installations are under construction in Marburg and in Kiel.

four-dimensional experience at walt disney world

Another general industry example is kuka’s RoboSim 4-D simulator, a ride at Epcot’s Innoventions at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida / usa. This ride gives visitors a four-dimensional experience: three-dimensional robotic movements are combined with an artificial wind. High speed, abrupt changes of direction and a variety of simulated climates give riders completely new sensations. kuka RoboSim 4-D simulators can be used by the entire entertainment industry; e. g., in amusement parks, science centers or theme parks.

beta site for “sensing” robot

Together with the German Aerospace Center (dlr), kuka Robotics is developing an entirely new type of robot, which will complement kuka’s existing product portfolio. This sensitive kuka lightweight robot has cognitive automation capabilities; i. e., it can operate relatively independently beyond what it is programmed to do. This is particularly useful in production applications that to date were strictly manual, or that could only be automated using very technically complex methods. The new robot is designed to share the workspace with humans. This will open the door to completely new fields of application for robots in the future. Despite the fact that the sensitive kuka robot is programmed to perform automatically, it approaches objects carefully using integrated sensors and adjusts to changed conditions. For example, if a work piece is not optimally positioned, the sensitive robot adjusts its motion sequence accordingly. In contrast, a conventional industrial robot that operates precisely, according to what it has been programmed to do, would have to be corrected by an operator in such situations.

On November 30, 2009, Daimler ag presented two such sensitive kuka lightweight robots installed at its Untertürkheim, Mettingen factory to the trade press. Since March 2009, the machines had completed more than 15,000 rear-axle differentials on an assembly line as part of a pilot project. The customer expressed great satisfaction with the performance to date, because with these new robots, Daimler was for the first time able to automate assembly tasks that had previously been impossible to automate, or that could only be automated at a very high cost.

new generation of industrial robots at automatica 2010

kuka Robotics will present the new generation of industrial robots it will market as of the end of the year at the world’s largest robotics trade fair, automatica, which will be held in June 2010 in Munich. With this product family, which has the same modular design as its predecessors, the controls and mechanics of the existing range of robots have been significantly enhanced.