Nau Robotics: "We Will Become a Global Robotics Company with Autonomous Logistics Robots"

Industrial Robot and Smart Factory Company Now Robotics
CEO Lee Jong-joo, Robot Expert with 12 Years as Engineer and Experience at Gmatic Korea
Selected for Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Advanced Robot Technology Innovation Development Project This Month... 500 Million KRW Support Over 2 Years
"Developing Autonomous Logistics Robots... Aiming for 80 Billion KRW Revenue in 2024"

Lee Jong-joo, CEO of Now Robotics. [Photo by Now Robotics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] "Many venture companies are entering the autonomous serving robot market because the entry barriers are relatively lower than those for industrial robots. However, Now Robotics aims to become a global leader in the industrial logistics automation robot sector, leveraging its strengths in software specialized for industrial processes and precision control technology."

Now Robotics is a company specializing in industrial robots and smart factories. It mainly produces and sells plastic injection robots used in the manufacturing of automotive and electronic parts, and supplies smart factory solutions applying Cartesian, multi-joint, and SCARA robot products.

Founder and CEO Jong-Joo Lee is a veteran in the robotics field. He said, "Before founding the company, I worked as an engineer for 12 years at domestic robotics companies, gaining technical know-how, and later served as the head of GIMATIC Korea (the Korean branch of the European robotics company GIMATIC), nurturing my dream of starting a robotics business."

Now Robotics' competitiveness lies in its engineering workforce with over 20 years of experience in industrial robots. More than half of the total employees are research personnel. The newly launched products this year, NURO and NURO X, incorporate proprietary software and a dedicated teaching pendant (remote control) with a user interface (UI) design.

NeuroX, a multi-joint robot dedicated to plastic injection molding by Naorobotics.
[Photo by Naorobotics]

NURO X is a plastic injection smart Cartesian take-out robot that performs linear reciprocating motion to remove molded products from injection molding machines, and NURO is a multi-joint robot dedicated to plastic injection. While existing robots required complex coding to operate, these products significantly improve convenience by allowing operation through intuitive screens and buttons. Along with this, sales have surged sharply. Sales, which were only 800 million KRW in 2017, reached 8.3 billion KRW last year, and this year are expected to achieve 12 billion KRW.

They also plan to develop AI-based autonomous logistics robots that can create synergy with the industrial robots they have focused on. For example, when plastic injection robots produce parts, autonomous robots transport them to logistics warehouses. The company explains that providing an integrated solution can enhance connectivity with existing processes and enable immediate response in case of problems.

Now Robotics was selected this month for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Technology Innovation Development Project and will receive 500 million KRW in support over two years. CEO Lee said, "For the past two years, we have collaborated with Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) to research precision high-speed driving technology for robots, and we have now completed the development of a prototype autonomous logistics robot," adding, "We plan to showcase new products at the RoboWorld exhibition this October by advancing AI technology development."

Exterior view of the Now Robotics factory located in Namdong Industrial Complex, Incheon. [Photo by Now Robotics]

This year, Now Robotics relocated its factory with an investment of 6 billion KRW. Production capacity increased about fivefold, from an annual sales scale of 8 billion KRW to 40 billion KRW. CEO Lee said, "Since we secured an order worth 1.5 billion KRW for robots from a domestic company’s factory in Eastern Europe in the first half of this year, we plan to establish a branch office in Eastern Europe in the second half," and added, "We will definitely succeed in developing autonomous logistics robots and grow the company to achieve 80 billion KRW in sales by 2024." Now Robotics is currently pursuing a KOSDAQ listing with Hi Investment & Securities as the lead manager.

Incheon = Reporter Kwak Min-jae