KUKA general industry orders soar

For example, KUKA Roboter GmbH's orders received include a blanket order from a Chinese paper industry customer for 100 industrial robots, which will be used to automate the print area and in-house transportation routes. The first order release of ten robots came in the first quarter of 2011.

KUKA Systems received several large international solar industry orders; from buyers in China, North America and European countries other than Germany. Contracts were awarded for complete production lines for photovoltaic modules with ratings from 50 to 160 megawatts. The scope of supply includes innovative process modules for integration into automated production lines for crystalline photovoltaic modules.

KUKA Systems delivered a laser hybrid welding cell to India for automated stainless steel transformer enclosure manufacturing. KUKA's specialty machinery segment sold a Magnetarc welding system to a company in South Korea

KUKA Roboter GmbH also received an aviation industry order from end user Airbus for six omniMove universal mobile platforms. The platforms will be used at the international aircraftmaker's Broughton factory in Britain to make wing components and at the Nantes factory in France to manufacture components for the center wing box of Airbus planes.

KUKA will supply thirty of the new QUANTEC generation robots to the German consumer goods industry. They will be used to grind and polish metal cookware on a new production line at WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabric) AG's facility in Geislingen/Steige, Germany. This investment reinforces WMF's decision to expand its cookware production line at its German location.

KUKA also delivered sixteen robots, which will be used on two separate filling lines, to the Brazilian brewing industry. Eight industrial robots will be used in Igrejinha (Rio Grande state) and eight in Alexania (Goias state) to transport and palletize 120,000 beer cans per hour.

One of the orders received by KUKA Roboter GmbH from the French food industry was for the supply of several KR 40 PA palletizing  robots. These industrial robots will be used to augment an automated packaging process at cheese producer BEL's factory in Sable sur Sarthe. An innovative gripper supplied to this customer will make the palletizing process faster and safer.

The total value of the orders received described here is in the double digit millions range (EUR) over several quarters. Overall, in the first three months of 2011, KUKA Group was able to boost orders received from general industry by sixty percent over the same period a year earlier.

"KUKA has made considerable progress toward executing its ambitious growth strategy during the first few months of this financial year," says Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG. "Both divisions were able to report above-average growth in their orders received from general industry. A significant share of this growth is attributable to the BRIC nations.