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ABB opens refitted Michigan robot-building facility

Site will host tech development, education, and “local-for-local” manufacturing

ABB Technician Assemblying Robot.jpg

The Swiss industrial robotics vendor ABB Ltd. this week opened its refitted U.S. robotics headquarters and manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, marking its third global robotics factory expansion in three years across China, Europe, and the Americas.

According to ABB, the reopened site is part of an effort to strengthen its local-for-local footprint, since it will use the facility to develop and manufacture cutting-edge robotic solutions in the U.S., for customers in the U.S. and the Americas. 


The expanded site offers a 30% increase in facility space, a customer experience center to showcase its hardware and software solutions, and a training center that will educate over 3,000 workers and students each year. The location will also support ABB Robotics’ specialist centers including its Packaging and Logistics hub in Atlanta, Georgia; its Life Sciences and Healthcare hub at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas; and AI Research Lab in San Jose, California.

“Robotics and AI are essential tools for companies in addressing critical labor shortages, localized supply chains and the need to operate more sustainably,” Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation Business Area, said in a release. “The advances in AI-driven software and hardware make our robots more accessible to a wider range of businesses, enabling them to increase resilience and become more competitive. America is now the world’s second largest robotics market, and our production facility will help ABB support existing customers as well as new growth sectors across the US and the Americas region.” 

 

 

 

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Logistics gives back: February 2025

Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

  • For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
  • Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
  • Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
  • Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
  • Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.

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