Continuing on the growth path

The new OnRobot team for DACH and Benelux celebrated the opening of the first German branch together with the Soest city mascot Jägerken.

L to R: CEO Enrico Krog Iversen, the Soest city mascot Jägerken, and Björn Milsch, General Manager DACH & Benelux, at the opening ceremony.

Products and applications were demonstrated in action in the new showroom.

Products and applications were showcased in action in the new showroom.

Products and applications were demonstrated in action in the new showroom.

At the opening, the award-winning Gecko Gripper was also on display, which was honored with the Robotics Award at this year's Hannover Messe.

OnRobot grows and grows: The young robotics company has opened its first office in Germany. With the branch in Soest, North Rhine-Westphalia, the new General Manager Björn Milsch is expanding OnRobot's presence in the DACH and Benelux markets. Now, the manufacturer of end-of-arm tooling aims to further spread its collaborative applications in the land of the Hidden Champions – and thus unlock the benefits of automation for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Given their strong industries, the DACH and Benelux regions are important target markets for us," explains Björn Milsch, General Manager DACH & Benelux at OnRobot. In terms of automation, Germany is particularly leading: according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), no other European country has more industrial robots in operation – only South Korea and Singapore have higher numbers. "With our new office and a larger team, we are now much closer to our customers and partners in the German-speaking region," says Milsch. "Our collaborative end-of-arm tools give companies the necessary flexibility to produce cost-efficiently even in batch size 1."

Automation for SMEs

By the end of the year, nine OnRobot employees will be working in the Soest office. A technical space provides room for training as well as exchange with customers and partners, and a showroom displays products and applications. The especially favorable transportation links, including to the Benelux countries, were decisive in choosing the location. Additionally, many international industrial companies are based in Soest and the surrounding area. The region has a history of industry: as "Susatum," Soest was known throughout Europe in the Middle Ages as a Hanseatic city, and even today, the city east of the Ruhr area is shaped by the industrial cultural heritage of South Westphalia.

Regarding the predominant corporate structure, the region is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. For many of these SMEs, the rise of collaborative robots (cobots) has opened access to robotics. OnRobot's collaborative end-of-arm tooling also helps lower automation barriers. "Our grippers and sensors are characterized by a particularly quick return on investment," explains Milsch. "This allows companies to quickly recoup the acquisition costs. It also makes it affordable for smaller companies to automate their own production processes."

Big plans for the future

With the new branch, a new chapter opens in OnRobot's success story. The company was formed just last year from the merger of several robotics startups. Today, it is represented not only in Europe but also in Asia and the USA through a total of seven sales offices and three development and production centers. The partner network now spans the entire globe, and the number of employees exceeds 160. Looking at the product portfolio, OnRobot has big plans, as CEO Enrico Krog Iversen reveals: "We plan to expand our range of innovative robotic accessories by 40 to 50 products within the next year. In this context, further corporate acquisitions are also conceivable for us." This brings OnRobot closer to its vision: to serve as a one-stop shop providing everything needed for collaborative automation.