It’s not uncommon for industrial technology giants like ABB, OMRON or General Electric to acquire smaller companies for their innovations. GE, as an example, has largely built their GE Additive business by acquiring additive manufacturing companies such as ConceptLaser and Arcam. Similarly, OMRON acquired Adept Technologies Inc. in 2015, to strengthen their industrial robotics offerings.
However, in this deal, it seems unclear exactly why ABB has chosen a small privately-owned robotics system integrator company based near Brussels. What does intrion have that ABB wants?
According to ABB’s press release, intrion has been an ABB authorized value provider since 2010 and has grown its business to become a well-established logistics automation solutions integrator in the Benelux. It will become part of ABB’s Robotics and Motion division, serving as a new regional application center focusing on logistics solutions for the warehouse, retail, and e-commerce markets in Europe.
Robotics Systems Integrators Have the Cutting-Edge Application Experience Manufacturers Need
While multinational robotics manufacturers like ABB have experience developing new robots, it’s the integrators on the ground who earn the valuable experience putting those robots to work.
The trend of mass customization in consumer goods is increasing the complexity of logistics tasks. e-fulfilment, for example, requires enhanced capabilities to identify, sort and process individual packages of more diverse shapes and sizes from large volumes of containers moving at high speed. Greater demand for tailored deliveries is also increasing complexity in retail logistics, where large chains require their suppliers to deliver pre-arranged palettes customized to each location that can be unloaded directly onto store shelves without sorting.
The unique scalability and flexibility of robotics to manage these challenges is driving strong logistics automation investment. According to the International Federation of Robotics, the market for professional service robots is expected to grow at an annual rate of 20 – 25 percent between 2018 and 2020.
ABB will acquire intrion, a privately-owned company headquartered in Huizingen, close to Brussels, with approximately 120 employees and over a decade of experience in logistics automation solutions and services for the warehouse and distribution, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Its expertise covers a full spectrum of logistics automation solutions including inline checking, product picking, packing, palletizing, conveying, storage, sorting and sequencing, and order picking. The two parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction, which is expected to close in Q3/Q4 2018.
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