Sepro America LLC will start assembling large robots at its Warrendale, Pa., facility later this year. Currently, it designs and builds integrated automation cells for North American customers at its plant near Pittsburgh.
"It is the next logical step," said Jim Healey, VP sales and marketing. He said beams and some components will be sourced locally but technical components will still be manufactured at the Sepro Group factory in France.
Robots for injection molding machines with clamping forces of more than 800 tons will be the initial focus. They will go to customers in the U.S., Canada and possibly Mexico.
North America accounts for 21 percent of Sepro's global sales and is the French company's largest regional market. New robots for larger injection molding machines that were introduced in 2015 and 2016 boosted Sepro America's market share for that category of robots by 14.3 percent last year, Sepro said.
The company said it plans to expand its 16,500-square-foot plant in Warrendale to accommodate assembly operations, which are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter this year.
