MARI wins robotics award
INDUSTRY NEWS
Image: MARI.
The ROBOTICS AWARD 2025, one of the most coveted awards in the international robotics community, was presented to Canadian company Maple Advanced Robotics, Inc.( MARI) on 19 February 2025 by Deutsche Messe at the Hannover Messe press preview.
The annual award honours robot-based automation and logistics solutions. This year’ s winning project, MARI AARS, is an AI-driven robotics platform for fast and codefree programming. This is made possible by advanced 3D scanning, automatic robot path generation and an intuitive graphical flowchart interface designed to eliminate the need for coding and CAD files. In addition, said Deutsche Messe, the MARI AARS platform includes features that compensate for deviations.
Jury member, Dr. Annika Raatz from Leibniz University, praised the innovation of the robotic platform:“ With its autonomous path planning, MARI solves one of the biggest challenges of high-mix production, namely constant reprogramming and set-up. This opens new opportunities, especially for small and medium-sized companies, that will also help to counteract the shortage of skilled workers,” she said.
The prize includes a promotion package with exhibition space at the‘ Application Park’ at Hannover Messe, a presentation slot at the Robotics Forum and an interview in the Robotics Podcast.
Over 4,000 exhibiting companies from the mechanical engineering, electrical and digital industries, and the energy sector, will present solutions at Hannover Messe( 31 March-4 April 2025) in Germany. A conference programme, with approximately 1,600 speakers, will also be held. n
AARS uses physics-informed AI to handle polishing, spraying, inspection and sorting autonomously.
www. hannovermesse. de
https:// maplerobotics. com
BENTELER Group stays on track in 2024
Despite declining markets in the automotive and steel tube industries, the BENTELER Group achieved a solid business result in 2024. The company generated revenue of € 8.2 billion in the 2024 financial year( previous year: € 8.8 billion). The operating result adjusted for special effects( adjusted EBITDA) amounted to € 594 million( previous year: € 793 million). Efficiency improvements and strategic progress across the company helped to cushion declines in the automotive and steel tube markets, it explained.
The Group’ s largest division, BENTELER Automotive Components, increased its adjusted EBITDA by € 27 million to € 365 million despite lower volumes. BENTELER’ s module business maintained the level of the previous year with an adjusted EBITDA of € 107 million( previous year: € 111 million). In contrast, the BENTELER Steel / Tube division recorded significant declines in revenue and earnings compared to the previous year, due to a sharp fall in volumes and prices.
Ralf Göttel, CEO of the BENTELER Group, said:“ The fundamental conditions for industry in Europe, especially in Germany, are challenging. We have not been immune to this trend. At the same time, our solid annual figures show that we know how to deal with conditions of this kind. The past year has once again shown that we are well positioned in terms of organisation and strategy. 2024 was hard work for BENTELER, but no drama. Despite all the negative news surrounding us, our results speak for themselves.”
Global vehicle production fell by around one million vehicles in 2024( source: S & P Global Mobility Forecast 02-2025); the first decline since the post-COVID recovery. Difficult conditions in the steel tube sector led to market-driven declines in volume and lower price levels in the European and North American markets. However, BENTELER remained profitable in all business areas.
L-R: Ralf Göttel, CEO, BENTELER Group, and Tobias Braun, CFO of the BENTELER Group.
Tobias Braun, CFO of the BENTELER Group, stated:“ After two record years in a row, we were unable to maintain the level in 2024 due to market conditions. Nevertheless, this was still the third best year in BENTELER’ s history, despite significant headwinds in our industry. This underscores the high level of profitability we have achieved through our consistent transformation in recent years.
“ In 2024, we focused not only on maintaining value but also continued to pursue strategic initiatives and invest in growth markets and future-oriented topics.”
In the USA, BENTELER is expanding its production capacities with a new site in the city of Wyoming and strengthened its existing sites with investments in Spartanburg and Shreveport. In Asia, the company supported new players in the automotive industry with their market entries, including Xiaomi and Nio.
At the beginning of 2024, BENTELER subsidiary HOLON secured a financially strong partner in TASARU Mobility Investments for the development and industrialisation of autonomous vehicles. Additionally, plans for the first production site in Jacksonville, USA, were concretised and the first prototypes were successfully tested.
BENTELER also advanced the sustainable transformation of its industries, for example through new partnerships for BENTELER Steel / Tube’ s CliMore ® brand of sustainable steel tubes, as well as product innovations for e-mobility( including hot-formed battery trays and battery cooling plates). The company also significantly improved its key sustainability metrics. Production-related emissions( Scope 1 & Scope 2) fell by 26 % compared to the previous year, while Scope- 3 emissions were reduced by 7 % and water withdrawals in water-stressed areas by 19 %.
Continuous improvement in all areas of the company remains key to the global Group’ s business success in the future, concluded BENTELER. n
www
. benteler. com
ISMR April 2025 | ismr. net | 13