FANUC Robotics Celebrates 20 Years of Robotic Leadership

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., June 27 -- FANUC Robotics North America, Inc. recently celebrated its 20th anniversary at its 375,000 square-foot headquarters and Customer Technology Center in Rochester Hills, Mich. FANUC Robotics is the robotics industry leader in North America.

"We're extremely proud to celebrate 20 successful years in the robotics industry," said Rick Schneider, FANUC Robotics' president and chief executive officer. "Our commitment to providing innovative robotic solutions which improve our customers' productivity and quality levels, and reduce manufacturing costs have been key factors in our continuous growth and profitability."

"Our recipe for success is having the most reliable robots, controls and software combined with a team of the most knowledgeable and experienced process and robotic experts," Schneider added. "Because of those factors, we maintain a clear market share leadership position over our competitors."

On June 23, 1982, GMFanuc Robotics was formed as a 50/50 joint venture between General Motors and FANUC LTD. At that time, a staff of 70 employees began work at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Mich. The new company's first customer project was a 10-robot paint line at the GM Assembly Plant in Doraville, Ga. In addition, GM's Assembly Plants in Orion, Mich., and Wentzville, Mo., were the company's first commercially executed contracts for robotic paint lines.

GMFanuc Robotics became FANUC Robotics North America, Inc. in 1992, when FANUC LTD purchased General Motors' 50 percent interest. The company was renamed to reflect the full ownership by FANUC LTD.

At the ceremony, Gary L. Cowger, president of General Motors North America, congratulated FANUC Robotics on 20 years of success in the robotics industry and recognized the company for its commitment to providing technologically-advanced manufacturing solutions.

According to Gary S. Zywiol, FANUC Robotics' vice president of product development, the company's robotic solutions are technologically advanced to the point that they can handle most manufacturing operations, from simple pick-and-place applications to process-intensive applications requiring vision and other state-of-the-art automation developments.

"Since 1982, FANUC Robotics has received high marks from its customers primarily because it continues to develop new products and diverse application solutions for a wide range of industries," said Zywiol. "In a recent independent customer satisfaction survey, 97% of our customers gave FANUC Robotics the highest ratings possible for robot performance and quality," he added.

FANUC Robotics has ten regional facilities located throughout North and South America and over 1,000 employees. With more than $7.2 billion in cumulative sales, and over 100,000 units in service, the FANUC family of companies, including FANUC Robotics North America, FANUC Robotics Europe and FANUC LTD offer sales, engineering and support of robotic systems in over 25 countries across the globe.

FANUC Robotics North America, Inc. designs, engineers and manufactures innovative robots and robotic systems for a wide range of industries and applications. After 20 years of success, FANUC Robotics maintains its position as the leading robotics company in North America. A subsidiary of FANUC Ltd. in Japan, the company has facilities in Chicago; Los Angeles; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati and Toledo, Ohio; Toronto; Montreal; Mexico City; Aguascalientes, Mexico; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. FANUC Robotics can be found on the Internet at www.fanucrobotics.com or by calling 800-47-ROBOT.