Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the manufacturing industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked flexible manufacturing startups.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Flexible Manufacturing Startups out of 607
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 2.093.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 607 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 flexible manufacturing startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 602 flexible manufacturing solutions, get in touch.
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ProFacere develops Reconfigurable Machine Tools (RMT)
Changing manufacturing requirements, market demands, and order sizes drive the need for flexible and configurable machine tools. The utilization of a single tool for multiple processes optimizes production capacity, allows for better quality control, and reduces machinery procurement costs. Therefore, startups work on modular machine tools featuring easy configuration as well as and supporting serial and parallel processing.
Italian startup ProFacere develops configurable machine tools by combining bed units and cross-tables. Through reversing the roles of the screw and the nut in the tools’ driving mechanisms, the startup enables the elongation of a translation axis, which makes the system adaptable to varying work requirements. Additionally, ProFacere is developing a control system for its RMT to give the user more control over bed configuration for such processes like milling, welding, and sheet metal cutting.
FlexHex Robot works on Robotic Hexapod Solutions
Processing objects of different shapes and sizes usually requires the utilization of a separate fixture system for each object. To this avail, startups develop fixture systems, such as hexapods, that align to varying object shapes. By adjusting the height and position of each hexapod, manufacturing companies improve the flexibility of their production lines.
Danish startup FlexHex Robot develops robotic hexapods for flexible production lines. The startup’s hexapods leverage a passive hydraulic system with a pressure intensifier to ensure accurate positioning. Thereby, FlexHex Robot facilitates batch production flexibility in industries where manufacturing relies on assembly processes, including automotive, railway, and aerospace.
Flexiv produces Adaptive Collaborative Robots
The integration of cobots into manufacturing allows for a secure collaboration of human workers with robots and accelerates process automation. Moreover, cobots’ attributes also enable their fast deployment to various environments and production lines, which facilitates flexibility in manufacturing. Therefore, startups further advance cobot adaptivity leveraging such technologies as computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI).
US-based startup Flexiv produces adaptive collaborative robots for manufacturing in sectors such as automotive, consumer electronics, and home appliances. The startup’s devices integrate performance force control, AI, and computer vision, which allows them to easily adapt to changing environments. The cobots’ tolerance for position variance, disturbance rejection, and intelligent transferability allows for their application for curved-surface processing and component assembly tasks.
Kung Fu Robot offers Compound Robots for Semiconductor Manufacturing
For components where manual handling easily leads to damage, such as semiconductors, acquiring a separate machine for every process translates to significant expenses. However, the combination of multiple applications in a single tool allows semiconductor manufacturers to optimize floor productivity. To this end, startups develop flexible robotics solutions capable of loading, unloading, and transferring operations.
Chinese startup Kung Fu Robot develops compound robotics solutions for semiconductor manufacturing. The startup’s KUNGFU ARCO series is adapted to shockproof, steady, and silent production requirements. In particular, Kung Fu Robot’s CLASS 100 solution handles front opening shipping boxes (FOSB) and front opening unified pods (FOUP), as well as transferring, loading, and unloading operations.
FORMHAND advances Robotic Gripping Abilities
The flexible gripping abilities of a robot allow it to handle various objects, regardless of their shapes. This allows manufacturers to reduce the number of handling devices required on a production floor as well as reduce maintenance expenses. Accordingly, startups focus on robots’ gripping abilities, adapting machines to handling metals, textiles, and electronics.
German startup FORMHAND develops robot’s gripping and material handling abilities. The startup’s robotic hand integrates an air-permeable cushion and an air blower to achieve adaptability to grip various items, including sensitive, limp, and hot objects. By leveraging these qualities, the startup’s solution enables the handling of vehicle body parts, decoration panels, and printed circuit boards (PCBs), among other products.
Discover more Manufacturing Startups
Manufacturing startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on robotic systems for machine tools and semiconductor manufacturing, as well as improve robotic gripping. While all of these technologies play a major role in advancing the manufacturing industry, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more manufacturing technologies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download our free Manufacturing Innovation Report to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
