ABB Sells its First Robot Manufactured in the U.S.

ABB recently sold its first U.S.-manufactured robot, an IRB 2600 produced at the company’s Auburn Hills, Michigan, facility. The robot was sold by ABB Value Provider, CIM Systems, Inc. to Hitachi Powdered Metals USA.

The compact robot, which is painted with special commemorative red, white and blue paint, will be used for material handling of in-process engine component parts at the Hitachi Greensburg, Indiana facility. It is the 180th ABB robot at the Hitachi plant, which installed its first ABB robot in 2005.

“The sale…is a tremendous milestone in the development of our manufacturing presence in the Americas,” says Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Robotics and Motion division. “It is a major step towards our goal of providing local customers with delivery schedules and technical support that are far superior to other robot manufacturers.”

James Adams, the chief engineer of robots and automation at Hitachi says, “Hitachi is honored to receive the U.S. manufactured ABB robot. It will be prominently positioned on our plant floor to showcase the essential role ABB robots have in our operation, and our passion to keep production in the U.S. For a company of our size, the volume of robots we have is unprecedented. I truly believe that if we didn’t have robots in our facility we wouldn’t be in business today.”

In May 2015, ABB announced that it would begin producing robots at its Auburn Hills facility. The delivery of this robot is consistent with the production schedule announced at the factory opening. In addition to the IRB 2600, ABB will begin manufacturing other robot models in Auburn Hills this year. By 2018 it is planned that 75 percent of all the models delivered to North American end-users will be manufactured in the United States. Previously ABB robots sold in the Americas were made in Sweden and in China.