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Universal Robots delivers amazing 72% revenue increase in 2017

Increased demand for Universal Robots' affordable, cage-free, user-friendly collaborative robot (cobot) arms has propelled the Danish company to revenue of $170 million (USD) in 2017 -- a 72 percent increase over 2016 performance.

"We credit our 72 percent year-over-year revenue gain to a continuing awareness of the economic advantages of our market-leading collaborative robots for a larger range of applications, along with the continued commitment of our Universal Robots employees and partners to be the cobot technology of choice," said Jürgen von Hollen, president of Universal Robots.

"Looking ahead at 2018, we expect further revenue growth of at least 50 percent," said von Hollen. "The cobot market is expected to continue to be one of the key growth drivers in the automation market in the coming years. My expectation is that we at Universal Robots will continue to leverage our position as the cobot market leader and grow at the same or above the collaborative robot market growth rate for 2018. This, however, can only be done by focusing on our goals of staying ahead technologically, expanding our Universal Robots+ platform, and further globalizing our regional sales and service footprint and reach."

Global expansion
A testament to its increased investment around the world, Universal Robots recently opened not only one but two repair centers -- the first of their kind outside Denmark -- in the United States and China to be closer to its users. "Our customers cannot afford any loss in productivity, so we want to avoid downtime at all costs. Our aim is that a cobot from Universal Robots should never be sitting idle, waiting for repair or spare parts," said von Hollen.

Universal Robots also recently opened a new facility in Boston, MA, which is the first step of expanding global functions departments outside Denmark. "The new setup in Boston will help us get access to more resources and highly skilled employees. Scaling the organization, especially within Research & Development and the commercial sales and service organization, will be key for Universal Robots in 2018. With two commercial and Research & Development sites, we will be able to scale faster and get more velocity when looking for and attracting the best talent and skills to Universal Robots," said von Hollen. "We are also opening sales offices in Italy and Turkey, and will be establishing an office in Mexico, and a third office in China."

Universal Robots will also continue its strong focus on expanding the Universal Robots+ ecosystem as well as the online Universal Robots Academy, which recently hit 20,000 users worldwide.

VIDEO: E-Commerce Growth Drives Collaborative Innovation in Automated Bin-Picking and Packaging.

Engaged employees
A main driver behind Universal Robots' success is its dedicated workforce.

"I am elated to see that 91 percent of our team are proud to work for Universal Robots when reviewing the latest results of our staff engagement survey. It's a key priority for me to ensure that Universal Robots is one of the most attractive companies to work for," said von Hollen. "A company where we offer training and development that allows people to grow to achieve their personal ambitions."

Universal Robots now has 470+ employees across 22 offices in 15 countries: Headquarters in Denmark and regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Mexico. The company also maintains a strong distribution channel with a network of around 300 partners worldwide.

Source: Universal Robots

Published March 2018

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