EA look at the factory halls shows a lot of activity. Because anyone who believes that robots practically produce themselves will be taught otherwise. The machines with the names Titan or Quantec in striking orange from the traditional Augsburg company Kuka are largely assembled by hand. The order books are full. What is particularly striking: “We are currently receiving more and more inquiries from companies that want to bring part of their production back to European countries,” says Kuka CEO Peter Mohnen in an interview with the FAZ. The corona pandemic has shown the limits of globalization in all industrial sectors : Supply chains are becoming increasingly difficult for companies to maintain, logistics costs are skyrocketing, production simply stops due to local lockdowns. Companies are therefore rethinking their previous orientation – independent of the industry, as Mohnen says. Inquiries come from industrial companies, the medical and electronics industries as well as chip and steel production.
This is good news for Kuka. Things had gone quiet around the former German flagship company, whose distinctive robots a few years ago had fascinated the then Chancellor Angela Merkel and the former American President Barack Obama at the Hanover Fair. In 2016 Kuka was taken over by the Chinese household appliance manufacturer Midea. Despite the major concessions made by the Chinese, the acquisition was highly controversial. Many were worried about the sensitive customer data of local companies and feared that top German technology would be sold out. The Kuka case also became a sin in Berlin, which led to an innovation in the foreign trade law.