Sepro invests 11 million euros in France and US

Following four years of record-setting sales growth, Sepro Group is announcing a three-phase, 11 million euros expansion plan. In France, the plan will increase production capacity at Sepro’s headquarters facility in La Roche-sur-Yon, and launch a new global training facility nearby. In the US, the plan will add large-robot assembly capabilities to the systems integration and service operations already in place at the Sepro America operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The expansion of Sepro Group’s corporate headquarters and production facility in La Roche-sur-Yon, from its current 13,000 sqm to nearly 20,000 sqm, take place over the next months until summer 2018. A key element of the expansion is the plan to separate robot manufacturing from robot integration workflow. This change, together with added space, will increase production capacity for Sepro 3-, 5-, and 6-axis robots from 3,000 to 5,000 units annually.

Offices will also be expanded and, in line with Sepro’s commitment to connecting not only robots and moulding machines but also people and ideas, the company will create a dedicated “innovation space” in its headquarters building.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Sepro’s investment plan calls for expansion of the Sepro America facility in Pittsburgh to allow assembly of large robots. Adding assembly capabilities represents the next logical step in growth for the facility, which is already a hub for systems integration and the assembly of complex automation cells in North America. The expansion will help optimize delivery schedules in North America clients, while achieving savings in logistics and transport.

The current expansion will support assembly of robots designed for use with injection-moulding machines of 800 tons or more that are bound for clients in the US, Canada or Mexico. It will more than double the assembly/production area of the facility, increasing it from 900 square meters to 2,000 square meters.

The second phase of Sepro’s expansion in France will relocate its training centre from the current headquarters site to a new 800-sqm facility, in the nearby municipality of La Roche-sur-Yon.

Sepro trainers plan to move into the new training centre in summer 2018 and begin training up to 1,500 course participants annually, a 50% increase over existing enrollments. The centre will house some twenty-five robots, including 3-, 5-, and 6-axis robots from Sepro, Sepro-Stäubli, and Sepro-Yaskawa, and offer trainees a wide variety of hands-on programming experiences.