Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) has added six new distributors in the US, Mexico and Argentina to help meet the ever-increasing demand for its autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

MiR, whose North American sales account for nearly a quarter of its worldwide growth, added Allied Automation, based in Indianapolis, Indiana; Empire Automation System in Rochester, N.Y., known as MASEAS; Lydey Automation in Maumee and Brecksville Ohio; I3 Mexico in Monterey Mexico, Murten S.L.R., in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Macon, in Tierra del Feugo, Argentina.

This brings the total number of MiR distributors to 143 in 40 countries.

“Automating internal transport with mobile robots is proving to be a key element for manufacturers to optimize production and increase competitiveness,” says Ed Mullen, general manager, North America, MiR. “This is especially true within multinational corporations that have successfully tested our robots within a few facilities and now want to optimize their internal transportation throughout their plants worldwide. By expanding our distribution network throughout the US and Latin America, we can help even more companies reap the benefits.”

Founded in 2013 and acquired in April 2018 by Teradyne for $272 million, MiR sales increased by 500 percent from 2015 to 2016, and 300 percent from 2016 to 2017. MiR added its second US office in San Diego this spring, which includes a team focused exclusively on growing sales in Latin America.

“Not only are US companies benefiting from our autonomous mobile robots, but there is great potential for growth in Latin America, since many of our multinational customers in the automotive, consumer goods and electronics industries have production plants in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina,” Mullen added. “This provides distributors with ready-made customers, while providing local examples of successful use cases to share with potential customers to demonstrate how automating logistics with mobile robots is helping them save money and increase productivity overall.”

MiR will demonstrate its MiR100, MiR200 and new MiR500 AMRs at IMTS 2018 in booth #121468. The new MiR500, which was introduced at Automatica 2018, has a lifting capacity of 500 kg (1102 lbs), which is designed to transport pallets in manufacturing floors and warehouses, and can automatically collect, transport and deliver pallets with speeds of 2 miles per hour.

“As so many of our customers are trying to apply collaborative robotics to automate their manufacturing processes, MiR provides a platform that offers a clear and short path to ROI with exciting new tools for productivity and growth,” says Dan Lydey, president of Lydey Automation Company. “The robot interface is very intuitive, the autonomy and safety of the robot is impressive, and the handling capabilities are very industrial. MiR is a logical choice for our customers who would rather be spending less time learning, and more time using, collaborative robotics.”