Interview with Enrico Rigotti
UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

Universal Robots was one of the key players in the first edition of RobotHeart in 2022. How do you evaluate your experience of participation?

Our experience was very positive! The uniqueness of RobotHeart proved to be very beneficial: the focus on the world of robotics and its applications clearly outlined the target of the initiative. This “pre-selection” allowed us to meet visitors with good knowledge in the field and really interested in our solutions on show. In addition, the positioning of the Exhibition Centre was a very favourable factor for the success of the project and the excellent results achieved by our company. Indeed, the Milan hub is very important for our business and its central position attracted numerous operators and a large number of stakeholders with whom we had the opportunity to interface.

What are your expectations for the 2024 edition?

We confirmed straight away that we will exhibit at the next edition of RobotHeart, because we expect to repeat the same fruitful experience of 2022. We have no doubt about the high attendance of visitors and the profile quality of the present operators. As in the last edition, we will certainly have the opportunity to meet very knowledgeable visitors and we will be ready to meet all their specific and targeted production needs, thanks to our professionalism and expertise.

Can you give us a preview of what you will present at the trade show? 

At our stand, we will show the best of our applications and, in particular, we will give high visibility to our state-of-the-art cobots, which are increasingly high-performance, reliable and space-saving. More specifically, we will present the UR20 model, which has a reach of 1750 mm and represents the ideal solution for applications of palletization, and the UR30 model characterised by a reach of 1300 mm and a significantly increased payload. Along with our proposal of products, we will offer a presentation of our activities regarding our Educational Programme, which includes projects that are principally intended for high schools and universities, thus highlighting our commitment to supporting young talents.

for the commitment to innovation, it is important to mention the pharma sector, which we are studying closely and which requires the creation of products with special specifications 

Your company is a leading manufacturer of cobots. What is the current and future scenario with regard to the use of these systems?

The use of collaborative robots is on the rise, both in Italy and in the rest of Europe and this does not surprise us. Work procedures have changed and the industry is constantly evolving. As a result, flexibility has become the new keyword for the companies in the sector. In this new context, cobots represent the ideal solutions thanks to their safety, ease of use, level of integration and ease of programming. The operators that have already started their innovation journey towards automation are now aware of the functions and numerous benefits of these applications and will continue to invest more and more in this direction.

Among your sectors of application, which ones would you like to mention for their commitment and innovation in the development of solutions?

Talking about sectors of application, I can affirm that our work is very cross-cutting and our solutions adaptable to multiple industrial applications, from the most “traditional” to the most “unusual” ones. At present, welding, machine tending and palletization are among the most active sectors. In particular, I would like to focus on the welding sector, a field in which we are investing a lot and which shows some critical aspects, such as the changes in the production system – for example, requests of ever smaller batches – not supported by traditional robotics and the lack of personnel. In this scenario, our cobots come into play. They are devised to be used by a welder – a figure that cannot be replaced thanks to his expertise – and make work faster, more precise, safer and less stressful. As for the most cross-cutting sectors, for the commitment to innovation, it is important to mention the pharma sector, which we are studying closely and which requires the creation of products with special specifications.

Let’s talk about the future of Universal Robots. Are you confident? What will be your next steps?

The continuous search for innovation of the sector will certainly influence the activity of Universal Robots in a positive way and thus we are very confident about our future. We will keep on standing out thanks to our requisites of easiness, flexibility and safety, which make us ideal partners in the path towards innovation. Over time, we will provide more and more turnkey solutions and we will constantly strive to offer our customers a high-quality experience. We will always support our customers offering them ongoing assistance – from purchase decision-making to installation and after-sales. To do this in the best way, the company has introduced in-house professional figures of customer success managers, highly trained profiles for customer support and care.


Interview released in January 2024.