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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 attributable to “irreconcilable shareholder variations.”
The preliminary insolvency administrator, Dr. Matthias Hofmann, and his crew are at present making ready the pre-financing of insolvency advantages for the greater than 100 workers. “The wages of the workers are secured as much as and together with October 2023 via state-sponsored insolvency advantages. Till then, we’ll work collectively to discover a answer for the way forward for the corporate. I’m very assured that we are going to reach main Franka Emika into a great future collectively,” says Hofmann.
The corporate issued a LinkedIn put up to offer extra particulars concerning the information:
In response to a launch from the corporate, talks with traders in current months couldn’t be concluded attributable to variations among the many shareholders of Franka Emika. Hofmann will probably be tasked with taking cost of those ongoing talks and opening discussions with new traders.
At present, Hofmann and his crew are taking an in-depth have a look at the corporate. Franka Emika’s administration crew and Hofmann have already knowledgeable greater than 100 Franka Emika workers concerning the state of affairs, and are at present within the technique of informing prospects, companions, and different stakeholders. The crew can also be working to increase the corporate’s seek for traders.
Whereas these two occasions might be unrelated, maybe the first signal of hassle for Franka Emika occurred in early 2020. Programs 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 schooling as an alternative 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 onerous to construct and it displays in the associated 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 traders. “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 gained OEM within the US overlaying a very newly market section, main analysis establishments and quite a few medium-sized enterprises, addressing labor scarcity and securing their native competitiveness with our answer. With a brand new investor at our facet and with the assist of our enterprise companions, we will double our earlier 12 months’s turnover within the brief time period and obtain a optimistic money move.“
Franka Emika is probably going finest identified for its Panda cobot arm, which is extensively 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.
For those who’re keen on studying extra concerning the intricacies of German insolvency legislation, go right here to search out extra data. The Robotic Report reached out to Franka Emika for particulars. This story is growing and will probably be up to date as wanted.
