Soft Robotics Adopts Compelling New Business Strategy and Becomes Oxipital AI, While Announcing Divestiture of its Soft Gripping Business to The Schmalz Group

Oxipital AI Will Focus on Their Powerful Visual AI Solutions for Manufacturing Process Optimization and Automation

BOSTON, Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Soft Robotics Inc., a leading innovator in soft gripping, 3D vision, and artificial intelligence solutions for industrial automation, today announced the divestiture of its gripper business assets to the Schmalz Group for an undisclosed sum. The company also announced that it has reformed as Oxipital AI, with a mission to deliver its transformative AI technology to customers in critical industries, enabling an entirely new generation of resilient, efficient, and sustainable manufacturing.

The divestiture of the company's gripper hardware business marks a significant milestone in its 10-year evolution. It enables the company to focus its resources and expertise on advancing the commercialization of its groundbreaking end-to-end visual AI solutions optimized for high-speed product inspection and robotic picking.

"For years, our AI vision solutions have enabled the automation of labor-intensive processes in the food industry," said Mark Chiappetta, President & CEO of Oxipital AI. "Although under a new banner, we remain steadfast in our commitment to customers as they embrace Industry 5.0, and in providing the AI technology they need to unlock previously unattainable levels of resiliency, sustainability, and resource efficiency in their manufacturing operations." 

The company will launch with a new corporate identity and a focused commitment to driving innovation in machine vision and AI. "The Oxipital AI brand name was selected because it aligns more closely with the technology, paying homage to the visual processing center of the human brain," said Austin Harvey, VP of Product and Marketing at the company. "Our vision solutions unlock latent process inefficiencies through deep object understanding and provide a previously unavailable pathway to further increase manufacturing yield, throughput, and margins, while reducing product waste and ecological footprint."

For more information about Oxipital AI or how the company's technology can elevate your operation, please visit the company website at www.oxipitalai.com or contact Julie Collura ([email protected]), Director of Marketing Communications, Oxipital AI.

Oxipital AI is hosting a live webinar on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, at 11:00 AM ET. During this event, the company will present its Visual AI technologies for inspection and vision-guided robotic applications. Register for the event here.

About Oxipital AI 

Oxipital AI is a leader in AI-enabled machine vision technologies for robotic process automation and product inspection in critical industries such as food processing, agriculture, and consumer goods production. The company's mission is to deliver actionable insights through deep object understanding, to customers, as they embrace Industry 5.0 and to unlock previously unachievable levels of resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability in their manufacturing operations.

About the Schmalz Group

Schmalz is one of the market leaders in vacuum automation and ergonomic handling systems. Schmalz products are used all over the world, for example in applications in the logistics industry, the automotive industry, the electronics sector or in furniture production. The wide range of products in the Vacuum Automation unit includes individual components such as suction cups and vacuum generators, as well as complete gripping systems and clamping solutions for holding workpieces, for example in CNC machining centers.

Schmalz is represented in all major markets with its own locations and trading partners in around 70 countries. The family-owned company, headquartered in Glatten in the Black Forest, employs around 1,800 people at 31 locations worldwide.

Media Contact:
Julie Collura
Director of Marketing Communications - Oxipital AI
Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Soft Robotics Inc.