TM Robotics and iAutomation sign partnership

Shibaura Machine industrial robots provider, TM Robotics has embarked on a strategic partnership with iAutomation, allowing the brand to distribute Shibaura Machine robots on the U.S East Coast. iAutomation will benefit from TM Robotics’ wealth of experience supplying robotics and robot programming training for Shibaura Machine, formerly known as Toshiba Machine, industrial robots, the partners explained.

iAutomation, a division of Complete Automation Solutions Holdings (CAS), is a high-tech value add distributor with engineering and integration capabilities. iAutomation supplies specialist automation to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), machine builders and end users from along the east coast from Maine to Florida. The partnership with TM Robotics, will see Shibaura Machine’s extensive robotics range added to the iAutomation product roster, this includes a large selection of 6-axis, SCARA and Cartesian robots, plus robot programming and 3D vision software.

Shibaura Machine was known as Toshiba Machine until a corporate name change in April 2020. Having been founded as Shibaura Machine Tool Co. in 1938, the organisation returned to its original roots and is now widely known as Shibaura Machine. TM Robotics is the brand’s premium global partner and has upheld the U.S distributor network for a decade.

The partnership with iAutomation will see TM Robotics expand its network across the East Coast’s growing industrial market, both for off-the-shelf robot purchases and specialist machine building projects. Among TM Robotics’ collaborations with machine builders are the Intelligent Box Opening Device (IBOD), the only patented automated box opener on the market, created with CASI and the Supata, an automated flexi feeder, manufactured by EPF Automation.

TM Robotics’ partnership with iAutomation hopes to yield similarly successful collaborations on the East Coast, as Nigel Smith, President and CEO of TM Robotics explains.

“This year, we have launched two new SCARA robot models to the U.S market, the THE800 and THE1000, and we are itching to work with machine builders to integrate these machines into larger solutions,” explained Smith. “These two new models expand upon the existing THE series — the gold-standard among Shibaura Machine’s SCARA range in terms of accuracy, speed and price-to-performance. In addition, we have a whole host of other 6-axis and Cartesian models from the last 40 years’ of Shibaura Machine’s robot manufacturing history.”

TM Robotics’ partnership with iAutomation is also seen as key for enabling collaborations with machine builders from the East Coast.

“We are looking forward to the partnership and the diverse product offering from Shibaura Machine and its premier distributor, TM Robotics,” remarked Kathy Cesca, VP of Sales, iAutomation. “Our team is very excited about this opportunity to offer Shibaura Machine to our customers, including the newly released SCARA models. This partnership will allow us to leverage our current product offering and engineering experience to bring our customers the best solutions in the market.”