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Franka Emika’s Franka Analysis 3 platform. | Supply: Franka Emika
Franka Emika, the German-based developer of the Panda collaborative robotic arm, has filed for insolvency as a consequence of “irreconcilable shareholder variations.”
The preliminary insolvency administrator, Dr. Matthias Hofmann, and his crew are presently getting ready the pre-financing of insolvency advantages for the greater than 100 workers. “The wages of the staff are secured as much as and together with October 2023 by means of state-sponsored insolvency advantages. Till then, we are going to work collectively to discover a resolution for the way forward for the corporate. I’m very assured that we’ll reach main Franka Emika into a very good future collectively,” says Hofmann.
The corporate issued a LinkedIn submit to present extra particulars in regards to the information:
Based on a launch from the corporate, talks with buyers in latest months couldn’t be concluded as a consequence of variations among the many shareholders of Franka Emika. Hofmann might be tasked with taking cost of those ongoing talks and opening discussions with new buyers.
At the moment, Hofmann and his crew are taking an in-depth take a look at the corporate. Franka Emika’s administration crew and Hofmann have already knowledgeable greater than 100 Franka Emika workers in regards to the state of affairs, and are presently within the strategy of informing prospects, companions, and different stakeholders. The crew can also be working to develop the corporate’s seek for buyers.
Whereas these two occasions may very well be unrelated, maybe the first signal of hassle for Franka Emika occurred in early 2020. Techniques integrator Voith Robotics stopped promoting the Panda arm in favor of cobots from Common Robots. On the time, a supply informed The Robotic Report the connection between Franka Emika and Voith was a mismatch from the start.
“Franka was geared towards training as a substitute of business, and Voith is solely industrial, so that they didn’t combine effectively,” the supply mentioned. “Franka is technically superb, however it’s very exhausting to construct and it displays in the fee, to allow them to not compete with UR. And the three Kg payload is simply too small. A 5 Kg payload is the most well-liked, adopted by 10 Kg and three Kg is [a distant] third.”
Each Hofmann and Franka Emika appear optimistic about discussions with future buyers. “Our order books are full, and we’re happy to have the ability to serve our prospects effectively once more with the assist of our provider and Dr. Hofmann,” Franka Emika Managing Director Dr. Patrick Pfaff mentioned. “Within the meantime, greater than half of our orders now come from business – together with industrial gamers, in addition to innovators like Deepmind and a lately received OEM within the US overlaying a totally newly market section, main analysis establishments and quite a few medium-sized enterprises, addressing labor scarcity and securing their native competitiveness with our resolution. With a brand new investor at our facet and with the assist of our enterprise companions, we are able to double our earlier 12 months’s turnover within the quick time period and obtain a constructive money movement.“
Franka Emika is probably going finest recognized for its Panda cobot arm, which is broadly used for analysis functions. Extra lately, the corporate launched its Franka Analysis 3, an up to date analysis platform for robotics. The platform features a robotic arm and the Franka Management Interface (FCI) so customers can discover low-level programming and management schemes. It additionally presents production-level robots for industrial robotics automation.
If you happen to’re serious about studying extra in regards to the intricacies of German insolvency legislation, go right here to seek out extra data. The Robotic Report reached out to Franka Emika for particulars. This story is growing and might be up to date as wanted.
