Formic has opened a 53,000-square-foot headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois, as the manufacturing automation provider expands its robotic systems business. The facility is five times larger than the company’s previous location and is its largest site to date.
The company said its robotic fleet has completed more than 650,000 production hours. Operational data from deployed systems is used to train Cortex and Core, Formic’s proprietary models for project scoping, deployment and real-time operation. Formic provides robotic automation to small and midsized U.S. manufacturers through a subscription-based model that does not require an upfront capital investment. Customers pay a flat monthly rate covering equipment, deployment, maintenance, parts and contracted production performance.
The company began with palletizing systems and has expanded its offerings to include case packing, pallet wrapping and machine tending. Its palletizing, case-packing and pallet-wrapping systems are intended primarily for end-of-line manufacturing and packaging operations. Machine tending extends Formic’s services to metal-component manufacturers serving industries including aerospace, automotive and industrial production. Chief Revenue Officer Shawn Fitzgerald said the application is aimed at manufacturers that have faced financial barriers to purchasing and maintaining automation equipment.
“Machine tending alone represents a massive expansion of who we can serve,” said Shawn Fitzgerald, CRO of Formic. “We’re talking about metal components manufacturers, the shops making parts for aerospace and automotive, who have not been able to automate due to capital constraints. Now they can unlock more production hours than ever before to get the job done without requiring that huge upfront cost and all the maintenance that comes along with it. The competitive landscape is shifting fast, and the manufacturers who act now are the ones who will win. We want to be their partner when they make that call.”
Founded in 2020, Formic operates under a Robots-as-a-Service model designed to reduce the initial cost of adopting industrial automation. The company plans to open an additional facility in Oakland, California, on August 19.
