ABB Czech Republic has started building a new production and development center for robotics in the Ostrava Airport Multimodal Park complex in Mošnov in the Novojičínsko region. The investment will exceed approximately CZK 300 million and the center should open in the first half of next year. Initially, it will employ about 120 people, according to Vítězslav Lukáš, CEO of ABB in the Czech Republic.
The center will focus on hi-tech production and development of robotic peripherals, which are key parts of the robot located at the end of its arm, such as pneumatic grippers, vacuum suction cups or camera systems. However, robots will also be repaired or refurbished in the center.
“For us, Ostrava is not a new location, we have a history of more than twenty-five years. Today in Ostrava we will soon be approaching some six hundred employees. In Ostrava, the historical industrial tradition is well combined, it is a region with people knowledgeable with industrial production (VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava), which produces excellent graduates. It was a clear choice for us, ” Lukáš explained the reasons for locating the center in the industrial zone. It assumes that the annual turnover in the center should reach units of billions of crowns.
The company already operates in the industrial zone in Hrabová. After the completion of the new center, he will also move this workplace to it. “But it is not a one-to-one copy. It is a significant expansion,” Lukáš said. The area of the hall will be 12,000 square meters. The company wants to use not only its current employees working in Hrabová in the center, but also expects to hire dozens of others into technically oriented professions. She has already started working on the selection of employees, employing mostly university-educated people.
“I believe that the development of innovative technological solutions that ABB is dedicated to will help create a favorable environment for retaining local or attracting new talent, which we are so striving for in our activities,” said Ostrava Mayor Tomáš Macura (YES). Ostrava had about 200 hectares of space at its disposal in the industrial zone. “At the moment, one larger area of 50 hectares remains unsold. We save so-called for a large investor. Then there are a few residual areas per hectare, ” said Macura.
ABB is already working with the Technical University, and the construction of the new center should also contribute to the education of future graduates. “These projects are important because a quality technical graduate should not only have some theoretical education, but must also have some practical education. I believe that it will build on the current model, where fourth-year students in the winter semester go to regular vocational training. internships at ABB in Hrabová, “said Petr Novák, Head of the Department of Robotics at VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava.
Source: CTK and ABB
