KION North America to assemble Fox Robotics lift trucks

Lift truck supplier KION North America (KION NA), a manufacturer of Linde Material Handling equipment, and Fox Robotics have entered into a non-exclusive partnership wherein KION NA will manufacture and assemble FoxBot autonomous trailer loader/unloaders (ATLs) at its facilities in Summerville, S.C.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the logistics and transportation industry, where innovation is key to addressing some of the most pressing challenges we face,” said Jonathan Dawley, KION NA CEO and president. “Specifically, in the realm of automated trailer loading and unloading, the last remaining piece of the end-to-end warehouse automation puzzle, Fox Robotics stands out by far as the dominant leader with the most robust AI/ML algorithms, tech stack, and deployed robot fleet we’ve ever seen.

“We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Fox Robotics to launch this groundbreaking product in the U.S. market,” Dawley added. “This partnership signifies a major leap forward in our commitment to enhancing efficiency, safety, and reliability in our customers' operations.”

Fox Robotics completes 3 million pallet pulls

The FoxBot autonomous forklift is a Class 1 electric, stand-up autonomous forklift designed for loading and unloading operations on warehouse loading docks. Classified as an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), the FoxBot robotic forklift can automates various operator tasks to help improve workplace safety, increase labor productivity, and enhance employee satisfaction, the company said.

"Fox Robotics is scaling and expanding its supply chain capabilities significantly via the partnership with KION North America," said Marin Tchakarov, Fox Robotics CEO and president. "We are experiencing unprecedented demand and have a massive list of bookings for Fox Robotics products and solutions. The partnership with KION NA will most certainly pave the way to capture all this commercial growth."

Fox Robotics started selling its ATLs commercially in 2019 to customers including Walmart. Recently, Fox Robotics announced that its installed base of FoxBot ATLs has processed nearly 3 million pallet pulls, up from 2.5 million pallet pulls at the end of January.

"The logistics space is the single biggest market for automation for the next ten years,” said Till Reuter, Fox Robotics board director and former CEO of Kuka Robotics. “Converting the shipping and receiving dock, the gateway to the warehouse, from a manual operation to an automated one will drive the greatest growth and change.”