Fox Robotics and KION NA announce strategic partnership

KION North America (KION NA), 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, South Carolina. 

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

“Fox Robotics is scaling and expanding its supply chain capabilities significantly via the partnership with KION North America,” said Marin Tchakarov, CEO and President at Fox Robotics. “Our traction in the marketplace is tremendous, and Fox Robotics is at an inflection point in its growth arc. 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.”

The FoxBot autonomous forklift is a Class 1 electric, stand-up autonomous forklift designed for load/unload operations on warehouse loading docks. Classified as an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), the FoxBot robotic forklift automates various operator tasks to improve workplace safety, increase productivity, and enhance employee satisfaction. The company started selling ATLs commercially in 2019 and is the first mover in the category. Recently, Fox Robotics announced that its installed base of FoxBot ATLs has processed nearly 3 million pallet pulls to date.

“The logistics space is the single biggest market for automation for the next ten years. 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,” said Till Reuter, Board Director for Fox Robotics and former CEO of Kuka Robotics. “Fox Robotics is poised to capture this growth in automation as the dominant leader in this space and the first one to deliver on the promise of true end-to-end automation of the warehouse of the future.”