{"id":578181,"date":"2024-03-17T16:16:09","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T20:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?p=578181"},"modified":"2024-03-19T05:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T09:12:14","slug":"odense-robotics-culture-of-collaboration-can-overcome-economic-challenges-says-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/odense-robotics-culture-of-collaboration-can-overcome-economic-challenges-says-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Odense Robotics culture of collaboration can overcome economic challenges, says CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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S\u00f8ren Elmer Kristensen, CEO of Odense Robotics, greets global delegates at R-24. Credit: Eugene Demaitre<\/p><\/div>\n

ODENSE, Denmark — Last week, the R-24 conference for robots, automation, and drones demonstrated why the city of about 206,000 residents is one of the most vibrant for technology in Europe and the world. The spirit of collaboration, from cobots to corporate partnerships, is key, according to S\u00f8ren Elmer Kristensen. For the past year, he has been CEO of Odense Robotics.<\/p>\n

One of the organizers of the event, Odense Robotics represents companies across Denmark. The organization<\/a> works with local and national industry, academia, and the public sector to share insights, accelerate growth, forge partnerships, nurture people, and drive innovation, said Kristensen in an R-24<\/a> keynote.<\/p>\n

“Collaborative robots, flexible automation, and drones are changing how we live and work,” he said. “We’re looking at agriculture, food, construction, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing — places used to automation and not so used to it.”<\/p>\n

Denmark turns industry decline into an opportunity<\/h2>\n

Odense’s robotics cluster<\/a> has its roots in the city’s steel working and shipbuilding industry, explained Rasmus Torpegaard Festersen, investment manager for robotics and drones at Invest in Odense<\/a>. By the early 1980s, manufacturing had shifted to Asia, and AP Moller – Maersk decided to invest in research into more efficient means of production.<\/p>\n

“The shipyard wanted robotic help with welding, and it was the first collaboration between industry and the University of Southern Denmark,” Kristensen told The Robot Report<\/a>.<\/em> “Like other cities, we’ve been through tough times, but visionaries from both parties and the municipality recognized the need to shift the paradigm from production to technology innovation.”<\/p>\n

Although the shipyard still closed, the investment led to the founding of cobot<\/a> leader Universal Robots A\/S (UR<\/a>) and Mobile Industrial Robots ApS (MiR<\/a>), which Boston-based Teradyne Inc. acquired in 2015<\/a> and 2018<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n

“That really put us on the map globally,” Festersen said. “Talent attracts talent, and we now have a critical mass.”<\/p>\n

Not only have UR and MiR grown, with plans to open a collaborative robotics hub in Odense in May, but Denmark is now home to 593 robotics companies, noted Kristensen.<\/p>\n

“Our ecosystem also recognized that to grow, we needed to build trust,” he added. “People can freely move, but companies can’t just steal talent from one another. We’re also looking at mentoring more startups in our incubator.”<\/p>\n

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\"SITELearn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Insight Report tallies growth<\/h2>\n

Odense Robotics and its partners also last week released its annual Insight Report, which described the growing sector but also noted challenges. Danish robotics, automation, and drone companies employ 13,700 people in Denmark and 4,800 abroad, reflecting 9% growth in the past year, it said.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the cluster had a total turnover of DKK 27.5 billion (\u20ac<\/em>3.7 billion or $4 billion U.S.), of which DKK 13.1 billion (\u20ac<\/em>1.8 billion or $1.9 billion) came from exports, said the report. However, supply chain constraints, market awareness, and global economic hurdles have arisen, acknowledged Kristensen. A survey of more than 300 Danish companies found that:<\/p>\n