Craig Jennings has a problem most presidents of manufacturing companies would love to have: Market growth for his products is so great that he's constantly looking at ways to boost capacity around the globe.
       Jennings is president and COO of Motoman. Based in West Carrollton, Ohio, Motoman specializes in robots for thermal applications, material handling and coating and dispensing. A subsidiary of Japan's Yaskawa Electric Corp., Motoman has rapidly grown to be the second largest North American robot company. Demand has forced Motoman to grow its production capacity in the last few years by 50 percent, and more growth is needed.

Motoman is expanding its robot manufacturing facilities around the world. Rapid growth has made the Ohio-based company the second largest producer of robots in North America.

       "We went from producing just under 1,000 [robots] a month to 1,500," Jennings says, adding that the company needs to produce 1,800 per month to fulfill current orders.
       Enabling the growth has been a major global expansion program. Motoman expanded its facilities in China, Slovenia and Finland, and just added a factory in Monterrey, Mexico. Closer to home, the company has doubled capacity at its peripheral production facility in Mississauga, Ontario.
       The Monterrey facility will serve the food and beverage, automobile and agriculture and construction markets with welding, cutting and palletizing robots. Motoman supplies Tier 1 and Tier 2 auto suppliers.
       Jennings cites a lengthy laundry list of location decision considerations. One key factor is the cost of money, which has Motoman constantly moving production around the world.
       "Currency is something you have to deal with," Jennings says. "We don't want to go where the currency is strongest. That will make it too expensive for weak currency nations to buy our robots."
       Jennings says the weak U.S. dollar may help bring some of Motoman's production back to Ohio. A few years ago, Motoman moved some production out of Ohio to various offshore locations. Now, with more capacity needed, the company's facilities in West Carrollton and Troy may be expanded.
       "It doesn't have to be Ohio, but we would likely look there first because we have good relationships with local and state government," Jennings says. A prerequisite in any project is proximity to customers. Other factors on the list include available infrastructure and skilled workers as well as state and local incentives, he says.
       The U.S. robot manufacturing industry developed largely up and down the I-75 automotive corridor. Other applications developed elsewhere, a major example being the semiconductor industry on both coasts. In recent years, robotics industry growth has been powered by the growing automobile and recreational vehicle manufacturing base in the Southeast.
       "The Southeast has been very hot for automation," Jennings says. "It's really driven a large surge in activity. The auto industry uses robots for most everything and it continues to be a strong purchaser. Usage in the food and beverage industry is increasing."
       The pharmaceutical and medical sectors, early adopters of robotics, are also increasing their deployment of the technology, Jennings says, noting that medical procedures figure to be a growing niche. The exploding market for flat panel TVs and computer screens will be another driver of growth, he says.

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