New headquarters for rise in robotics

The result of an investment of more than £19 million, the new 107,000ft² facility highlights the significant growth the company has experienced over recent years, as well as its unified approach for the future. The new headquarters will enable the business to further develop its offering and strengthen its position in the market.

Crucially, all aspects of the business will operate under one roof, while the three-storey building is also home to a design, manufacturing and training facility, offices and showroom area. Fanuc UK currently employs more than 100 people and anticipates further growth of its workforce in the coming months.

Fanuc specialises in factory automation, which is split across three categories: robotics, machine tools and factory automation systems. Its extensive product portfolio comprises vertical milling centres (Robodrill), plastic injection moulding machines (Roboshot), wire EDMs (Robocut), industrial robots and widely used CNC systems.

Training is a vital and growing part of the group’s offering and the expansion of the UK facility has helped to enhance its training academy’s capabilities, with the introduction of a new advanced course for more experienced engineers. The dedicated suite consists of four training rooms, each of which caters for up to eight students at any one time. The Fanuc Academy houses eight robots of various sizes, as well as 12 simulators for factory automation.

Overall the project has taken approximately 12 months to complete, with backing from Fanuc’s European and Japanese parent companies. Ansty Technology Park is strategically located at the hub of the UK motorway and is also home to the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC).

Tom Bouchier, managing director at Fanuc UK commented: “Our new headquarters represents a new approach, with all parts of our business brought together under one roof for the first time. By consolidating these functions, we can enhance our capabilities and provide customers with a combination of solutions to meet their every need.

“This investment has helped grow our capacity, and more crucially has enabled us to strengthen our training services. Our new training area is equipped with state-of-the-art robots, enabling users to fully exploit the capabilities of robotic technology. Our relocation will drive further growth, develop our team and strengthen our services, solidifying Fanuc’s position in the UK as a market-leading manufacturer and solutions provider.”

The new facility has the potential to be increased by a further 25% in the future.

Opening the centre Dr Yoshiharu Inaba, president of the Fanuc Corporation said: “Since establishing Fanuc UK in 1980 we have been contributing to the development of manufacturing in the UK. This new UK facility is four times larger than before, with substantial enhancements in the size of training rooms, robot system rooms and the spare parts warehouse.

“Fanuc is continuously reinforcing its robotic and machine products and at the same time we are actively accommodating developments in Industry 4.0. Moreover, we are accelerating the adaption artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in all our products by utilising the newest technologies such as machine learning and deep learning. With this new Fanuc UK facility, we will ensure delivery of these technologies to all our customers.”

You can watch a video of the opening at: https://www.pesmedia.com/fanuc-coventry/

FANUC UK www.fanuc.eu