A UR20 cobot arm being utilized in a palletizing utility. | Credit score: Common Robots
Teradyne Robotics is ending a tricky monetary yr with some excellent news. With momentum constructing round reshoring and a nationwide robotics technique, the timing for its deliberate U.S. headquarters opening in late 2026 couldn’t be higher.
Teradyne Robotics is renovating a 67,000-sq.-ft. facility in Wixom, Mich., a suburb about 30 miles northwest of Detroit. The positioning will function the brand new U.S. hub for Cellular Industrial Robots (MiR) and collaborative robotic arm chief Common Robots (UR), each subsidiaries of Teradyne. UR will start working there first, with MiR to comply with.
Jean-Pierre Hathout, president of Teradyne Robotics, informed The Robotic Report the mission has been mentioned for greater than a yr. The ability will help manufacturing, gross sales, and buyer coaching for each UR and MiR merchandise.
Hathout stated Detroit emerged because the best choice for a number of causes:
- Proximity to main automotive and superior manufacturing prospects
- A deep engineering expertise pool bolstered by native establishments
- A robust logistics infrastructure
- An present Teradyne Robotics presence in close by Novi, Mich.
“The town of Wixom welcomes Teradyne Inc. as they set up this first-of-its-kind facility that may convey superior robotics manufacturing, service, and operations to our group,” said Wixom Mayor Patrick Beagle. “We’re proud to be their new residence and look ahead to supporting the greater than 200 new workers Teradyne plans to find right here as the subsequent step of their greater than 60-year historical past as an business chief within the automation and robotics area.”
Amazon Robotics enjoying a significant position?
One other main driver behind the U.S. headquarters plan is to be nearer to a big e-commerce buyer that Teradyne has referenced in current months however hasn’t publicly recognized. The Robotic Report believes this buyer is Amazon Robotics, which not too long ago started producing its new Vulcan robotic that’ll be used inside Amazon warehouses. Every Vulcan robotic makes use of a UR cobot arm to stow and choose gadgets from Amazon’s cellular robots.
“As you recognize, we’ve landed a significant cope with a significant e-commerce participant. We need to develop with them, and one of many issues that helps rising with this participant is manufacturing near their residence,” stated Hathout. “They’ve a number of houses within the main areas of the world. We don’t should be in the identical state as their headquarters, however we have to no less than be on the identical continent to raised serve their distribution facilities.”
The Detroit facility might be Teradyne Robotics’ third main manufacturing web site globally, complementing present manufacturing in Denmark and China. Teradyne has stated in earnings calls that quantity shipments to this main e-commerce buyer should not anticipated to have a fabric impression on robotics income in 2025.
U.S. strengthens its robotics play
The announcement comes as bipartisan help grows for making robotics a pillar of U.S. competitiveness. Hathout stated business leaders, together with A3, have been in discussions with lawmakers in Washington for months.
Regardless of being a worldwide know-how chief, the U.S. nonetheless trails nations similar to South Korea, Japan, China, and Germany in robotics. Hathout stated the U.S. robotics panorama is overdue for a significant funding surge.
“I feel it’s the suitable time to do that,” Hathout stated. “The U.S. is a significant participant on the planet, in know-how basically, however it has to catch up in robotics. Our prospects want to robotics not solely to spice up competitiveness, but additionally to make manufacturing unit flooring extra engaging to the subsequent era of staff. With this facility, we’re investing in each automation and schooling.”
Hathout stated that whereas it’ll take a couple of years to succeed in full scale, however he expects the Detroit facility to create greater than 200 jobs and turn into one of many largest robotics manufacturing websites within the U.S.
Like many robotics corporations, Teradyne Robotics has confronted headwinds in 2025. The firm laid off about 25% of its workforce throughout two rounds of layoffs this yr because the group’s income has declined. Hathout, who succeeded Ujjwal Kumar as president of Teradyne Robotics in September 2025, stated the Detroit mission is energizing the group.
“It’s very constructive,” Hathout stated. “We’re investing at a time when others are cautious. We consider issues are going to get higher, and we’re going to be forward of the curve once they do as a result of we’ll be prepared. You make investments on the sound of cannons.”
