Adept Technology Inc. has introduced an overhead packaging robot that it says is well suited to industries that utilize high-speed packaging, including food and beverage, medical, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and electronics.
The Cobra s800 Inverted robot can perform mechanical assembly, material handling, packaging, machine tending, screw driving, and other precision-based tasks, according to the company. The 4-axis SCARA (selective compliant articulated robot arm) model has a reach of 800 mm, or 31.5 inches, and a vertical stroke of 210 mm, or 8.266 inches. Its maximum payload is 5.5 kg, and it is rated for a 2.0 kg payload.
Adept said the new model features integrated vision and conveyor tracking, an intelligence capability that gives a packaging robot the ability to locate objects on the assembly line and guide its motions accordingly.
Adept claims that the Cobra s800 Inverted uses 70% less wiring than similar robots on the market. The unit is controlled by the SmartController CX processor. For manufacturers that maintain a production environment that complies with the IP65 standard for equipment protection against dust and water jets, the Cobra s800 is offered with an option for IP65 compliance.
The s800 announcement comes as Adept tracks a rocky road to financial recovery. After experiencing a strong decline in its revenue and posting losses in the early part of the decade, the company greeted 2004 armed with a recovery plan that involved outsourcing the manufacturing of its products to Japan, contracting with a third-party logistics provider, replacing a number of senior-level employees, and gutting the financial staff.
By the time Adept closed its fiscal 2005 in June of that year, revenue was holding steady at approximately $50 million year over year, and the company had turned a $7.3 million loss into net income of $1 million.
Officials claimed the plan was working, and predicted a strong year to come. In November 2005, Adept was relisted on the NASDAQ, another milestone that seemed to indicate brighter days ahead.
Fiscal 2006 saw revenues climb to $57 million as demand for robotic systems picked up, but for the year, earnings slid to $540,000. The current fiscal year has been another bumpy one for Adept, and the latest news is not particularly encouraging. The robotics maker recently closed the second quarter of its fiscal 2007 with a net loss of $2.6 million, which compares to a loss of $262,000 in the same period in 2006. And while the bottom line sags, the top line doesn't look much better. Revenue has decreased quarter over quarter since the third quarter of 2006 — from $15.1 million to $11.1 million.
The fate of Adept and other robot makers is intertwined with the markets they serve. Many companies rode the boom times in the U.S. automotive sector to prosperity, and its recent sharp retraction has done much to unravel that success.
To cope, Adept has said it will shift sales resources to Europe and ramp up efforts to service certain manufacturing verticals in China.
The latest research by the Robotic Industries Association shows that 2006 was a challenge not only for Adept. While orders from non-automotive customers reached a record high, the continued fall off in the automotive sector dragged the total number of orders down 30% year over year.
Adept's announcement of the Cobra s800 Inverted, which is targeted to companies outside the automotive sector, may be a conscious move toward markets that will better support the company's products. The company did not return calls for comment today.