Sepro Group, a global leader in robots and industrial automation for the plastic industry, and Universal Robots (UR), market leader in collaborative robots (cobots), have signed a partnership agreement enabling Sepro to offer its Vision Control System with UR cobots.

Odense, Denmark, May 15, 2019: Under the terms of this partnership between Sepro and UR, Sepro Group will integrate its Visual Control System with cobots supplied by UR. The Visual Control Platform was developed by Sepro especially for robots used in plastics injection-molding machines. All Sepro products, including co-branded lines, are controlled by Visual, providing the same user interface regardless of the type of robot.

"I am enthusiastic to announce this partnership, which will expand our already extensive portfolio," says Jean-Michel Renaudeau, CEO of Sepro Group. "Moreover, I believe that the combination of Sepro Group's know-how and the ground-breaking collaborative technologies developed by Universal Robots will allow our customers even greater flexibility and choice in how they approach automation in the plastic injection process."

Jürgen von Hollen, President, Universal Robots, adds: "I am very excited about our new partnership with the Sepro Group targeting the plastic injection automation market. Sepro has extensive experience and knowledge about how to automate the manufacturing processes and Universal Robots is the market leader in collaborative robots. Together, the two companies will be able to provide efficient, safe and easy to use solutions for a wide range of customers within the plastic injection industry."

The new partnership will allow Sepro Group to deliver the most extensive range of automation solutions to injection molders in the plastics industry. This portfolio includes Cartesian robots, 6-axis articulated-arm robots and now cobots. Like the 6-axis robot solutions, cobots are perfectly adapted to peripheral operations that are increasingly in demand in the plastics industry. By helping define the solution that really fits their needs, Sepro Group offers its customers the smartest industrial automation solutions.

Launching Operation Ready Cobots
By adding the renowned Visual Control to the leading cobot for the first time, Sepro Group guarantees seamless integration with UR's technology and other Sepro robots and molding machines. This will allow customers to design safe, open configurations for various types of processes, including peripheral operations or advanced automation cells. The new solutions from Sepro and UR ensure shortened process-development times and faster installation, resulting in easy-to-deploy, easy-to-test post-processing operations and turn-key automation systems.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sepro will provide global services for solutions from Sepro and UR. Sepro has a significant presence in the Americas, with more than 150 experts and 42 service centers around the world. This extensive network allows Sepro to deliver local support and the same quality of service for cobots as it does on Cartesian and six-axis robots.

The solutions from Sepro and UR will be displayed at Sepro Group's booth in Hall 12, A49, during K 2019, which takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, October 16-23, 2019.

About Universal Robots
Universal Robots was founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible industrial robots that are safe to work with. Since the first collaborative robot (cobot) was launched in 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly cobot now sold worldwide. The company, which is a part of Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has subsidiaries and regional offices in the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. In 2018, Universal Robots had a revenue of USD 234 million. For more information, please visit www.universal-robots.com or read our blog at blog.universal-robots.com.