ABB Robotics opens U.S. Packaging and Logistics headquarters

ABB today officially opened its new Robotics Packaging and Logistics Headquarters, located north of Atlanta in Alpharetta, Georgia. The new facility will serve as ABB‘s dedicated center for robotic automation solutions in the logistics and packaging industries. 

“We are delighted to open our new Robotics Packaging and Logistics Headquarters in Greater Atlanta, home to some of the world’s largest packaging and logistics companies,” said Sami Atiya, President, Robotics & Discrete Automation at ABB. “With global mega trends including direct-to-consumer commerce and labor shortages driving demand for robots as companies look to move their operations closer to home, there is a growing demand for dedicated support and expertise from our U.S. packaging and logistics customers. Our new facility, supported by our manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, will help us meet this need by providing our customers with the latest, AI-enabled robotic solutions that improve their flexibility and productivity, while strengthening their resilience and ability to operate more sustainably.”

With some of the world’s largest packaging and logistics companies based in and around Atlanta, the facility will serve as a hub for collaboration between ABB and its customers and integration partners, ABB stated. Together, this ecosystem will design and develop the next generation of AI-enabled robots to transform the packaging and logistics industry and help US companies meet new demand, build resilience and remain competitive, the company added. Training will also be available for ABB employees, customers, and integrators to help them develop skills needed to program, operate and maintain robots in logistics and packaging applications.

As part of a wider $22 million investment by ABB Robotics in the U.S. that will create more than 70 jobs, this is the latest specialist robotics center, dedicated to developing new solutions, products and technologies, the company noted. It will operate alongside ABB’s Lifesciences and Healthcare Lab in Houston, Texas, ABB Robotics’ manufacturing facility in Auburns Hills Michigan and the ABB Robotics Research and Development lab in San Jose, California. 

The investment furthers ABB’s commitment to addressing the increasing demand for automation in the U.S. as more companies seek to re-shore their manufacturing and distribution operations, ABB added. North America is already the second largest market for new robot installations with 41,000 robots installed across the U.S. in 2022, according to data from the International Federation of Robotics.

“The rising expectation of consumers for greater choice and faster delivery is causing companies to look at more flexible and efficient ways to produce and distribute their products. At the same time, a growing labor shortage is hampering their ability to make the necessary changes, particularly when it comes to meeting the demands of Omni-channel distribution,” said Daniel Navarro, Managing Director for Consumer Segments & Service Robotics at ABB Robotics. “Smarter automation and AI-enabled robots can help to address this challenge and energize the changes society demands. From collaborative solutions that are easy to program and deploy, to 3D vision technology that can recognize and sort objects or navigate warehouses autonomously, ABB’s robotic automation solutions provide a flexible end-to-end offering that can help companies to meet customer expectations while utilizing their existing workforces more effectively.”

With a recent ABB study finding that 40 percent of U.S. transportation and Logistics companies are lacking staff to carry out low skilled manual tasks, solutions like ABB’s family of Autonomous Mobile Robots with Visual SLAM technology or AI-enabled Robotic Item Picker can help companies overcome labor and skills shortages, ABB noted. Capable of making intelligent decisions in dynamic environments, these solutions can take on dull, dirty and sometimes dangerous tasks to free people to do more rewarding work, ABB added.

ABB’s new Packaging & Logistics Headquarters in Atlanta follows the company’s investment in the expansion of its Auburn Hills manufacturing facility in Michigan. The investments made by ABB Robotics is part of approximately $170 million that ABB is investing across its businesses to accelerate its growth strategy in the United States.