Mobile Robot Guide

  • Home
  • News
  • Systems / Platforms
    • Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)
    • Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
    • Autonomous Forklifts
    • Drones / UAVs
    • Other Systems / Platforms
  • Markets / Industries
    • Agriculture
    • Construction & Mining
    • Consumer / Office
    • Defense / Security / Public Safety
    • Education / Research
    • Healthcare / Medical
    • Hospitality / Travel
    • Logistics / Warehouse / Transportation
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail / Wholesale
    • Energy / Utilities
    • Other
  • Applications
    • Move
      • Delivery
      • Intralogistics
    • Perform
      • Disinfecting
      • Telepresence
      • Manipulating
      • Vacuuming
      • Washing
    • Sense
      • Inspection
      • Search
      • Surveillance
      • Surveying
      • Mapping
      • Exploration
    • Other Applications
      • Development
      • Research
  • Resources
    • AMR Glossary
    • FAQ
    • Case Study
    • Find a Vendor
    • What is Robots as a Service
    • Mobile Robot Standards
    • Websites
      • The Robot Report
      • Robotics Business Review
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Webinars and Digital Events
    • Publications
      • Robotic Solutions for COVID-19
    • Newsletter
  • Events
    • 2021 Robotics Weeks
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • RoboBusiness Direct
    • Field Robotics Forum
    • 2022 RBR50 Awards
    • R&D 100
  • Podcast
    • Podcast Archives

A bright future for Fetch Robotics following Zebra acquisition

By Ash Sharma | July 8, 2021


On July 1st Zebra Technologies announced that it would be acquiring Fetch Robotics. It will be paying $290 million to acquire the 95% of the company that it does not already own, in a deal that values Fetch Robotics at $305 million.

Zebra, which provides various warehouse technology such as barcode scanners and printers, has over 8000 employees, 10,000 channel partners and generated revenues of over $4 billion in 2020. Fetch was founded in 2014, has approximately 100 employees and generates annual orders of approximately $10 million.

Our Analysis
Zebra - FetchFetch Robotics is a pioneer in the autonomous mobile robots industry – its founder and CEO Melonee Wise was one of the first employees at robotics lab and incubator Willow Garage. Benefiting from this strong pedigree, Fetch Robotics was one of the first companies to develop a commercial autonomous mobile robot for material handling applications.

The US $305 million valuation may look high on first glance –a valuation of approximately 30 X its annual sales – but it is in-line with Locus Robotics’ recent financing round which valued the company at US $1 billion. In our view, this impressive valuation shows that Zebra believes it can scale Fetch’s sales rapidly, and that its products are unique despite the plethora of vendors now on the scene.

First Out of the Gates, but…
Despite Fetch’s strong credentials when the company launched back in 2014, it was quickly surpassed by other vendors such as Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR generated revenues of approximately $40m in 2020). MiR benefits from a large parent organization following its acquisition in 2018 by Teradyne but, this aside, MiR has always taken a very different strategy to Fetch in terms of growing its business. MiR has recruited an army of hundreds of distributors and integrators to sell its mobile robots worldwide. And, although its average fleet sizes are quite modest, the virtual sales team which its distribution network brings has encouraged end customers to start using its robots. The result has been that it has quickly captured market share across the globe.

Fetch, on the other hand, has taken a much more conservative approach. It does not use distributors and has only recently started to partner with major systems integrators, such as Korber. Instead it has mainly developed relationships in-house, targeting major accounts and working more cautiously to refine and perfect its mobile offering. It has retained a strong focus on quality and safety, and also on fleet management software. This perhaps rather too cautious approach has led it to be surpassed by its peers and allowed space for the dozens of new entrants to gain a foothold.

Material Handling Robots
Zebra - FetchHigh-profile acquisitions and valuations such as 6 River Systems (US $450 million) and Locus Robotics (US $1billion) are indicative of the extremely rapid pace of growth and the massive TAM (total addressable market) potential for robots used in e-commerce picking applications. Such acquisitions follow in the footsteps of Kiva Systems, which was famously acquired by Amazon for US $775 million.

Companies that produce robots that assist piece picking as part of fulfillment operations have benefited benefit from the boom in e-commerce, mobile robots for general purpose material flow do not attract the same level of demand. The robots supplied by companies like Fetch are not generally used for e-commerce picking applications. Still, those same warehouses still require movement and management at the pallet level. At the same time labor is as scarce when it comes to forklift drivers as it is for pickers. And demand is further compounded by shifts in manufacturing strategies toward more flexible production lines, which also create demand for mobile robots that can carry larger payloads.

In fact, our recent research has shown that, of the 1.6 million warehouse employees in the US, only half of these are conducting piece or item level handling. This illustrates the huge opportunity for larger material handling mobile robots to replace human labor. The trend is well reflected in terms of mobile robot revenues – robots designed for non-piece picking applications actually accounted for 52% of AMR revenues last year. Furthermore, revenues from material handling AMRs are expected to reach $3.5bn by 2024 according to our analysis (Figure 1).


Zebra and Fetch Analysis

Figure 1: AMR Material Handling Revenue


Zebra’s Impact
What does Zebra bring to the table? The answer is – a lot. With close to 9,000 employees and sales of US $4.5 billion, Zebra has a comparatively massive footprint compared to Fetch. Zebra has thousands of existing customers, and it has built its core business on using its technology to help make its manual workers more efficient and effective. The ability to now offer automation solutions to those same customers is compelling. As well as offering hardware solutions, Zebra’s FulfillmentEdge Warehouse Execution System (WES) solution makes the integration of AMRs alongside other processes (both automated and manual) even more effective and potentially enticing for customers.

As long as the process of integrating Fetch into Zebra is relatively friction-free, the likely result is that this acquisition will turbo-charge Fetch’s growth.


Editors Note: This story recently appeared on Robotics Business Review and is republished here. We would like to thank Interact Analysis for permission to publish this piece (with edits). The original can be found HERE. All views, thoughts, and opinions expressed therein belong solely to the author. To contact Interact Analysis click HERE.


 

About the Author

Ash Sharma, Managing Director, Interact Analysis

Ash Sharma, Managing Director, Interact Analysis

Ash Sharma has spent close to 20 years in technology research and is now Research Director for robotics & warehouse automation at Interact Analysis. In this role, he leads our industry-leading market intelligence on the use of robots and other technology that enable intelligent automation, providing expert insight based on our robust research techniques. Sharma is also Managing Director at Interact Analysis, leading its EMEA operations.

In his previous role, Sharma served as VP & Senior Director at IHS Markit where he led its Power & Industrial Technology research practices. In this role, he led a team of more than 80 analysts providing market-leading research on several sectors, including industrial automation and smart manufacturing, smart home, solar power and energy storage, drones and robotics, medical technology and building automation. His in-depth experience in these sectors and broad experience in market research and analysis helped establish Interact Analysis as a new leader in Intelligent Automation research.

You may also like:

  • Fetch robot in a warehouse
    Zebra Technologies acquiring Fetch Robotics for $290M
  • Fetch Robotics product family
    Fetch Robotics Announces Full Conformance with R15.08, the First Safety…
  • Fetch Video Cover page amr workflows
    VIDEO: Fetch AMR Workflows
  • podcast episode 17 with melanee wise from fetch robotics
    Podcast Episode 17 – Melonee Wise From Fetch Robotics
  • an aerial view of images of Chris Anker Sørensen painted on soccer pitch
    Tour du France tribute to Chris Anker Sørensen painted by…
  • Karl Wente receives new Monarch Tractor
    Monarch Tractor denied autonomous permit by Cal/OSHA

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Related Articles Read More >

amrs zebra
Could AMRs close the labor gap completely?
Open-source visualization and debugging for robotics
2022 – The year of automation
The Robot Report Podcast
Best of The Robot Report Podcast 2021

RBR50 Innovation Awards

The Robot Report Listing Database

THE ROBOT REPORT PODCAST

July 1, 2022
Brian Gerkey from Open Robotics discusses the development of ROS

Recent Articles

  • Brian Gerkey on the success of Open Robotics and ROS
  • an aerial view of images of Chris Anker Sørensen painted on soccer pitch Tour du France tribute to Chris Anker Sørensen painted by robot
  • Anders Beck introduces the UR20; California bans autonomous tractors
  • Karl Wente receives new Monarch Tractor Monarch Tractor denied autonomous permit by Cal/OSHA
  • Melonee Wise Fetch Zebra robots Melonee Wise Joins the TAILOS Board of Directors

Latest Robotics News

Subscribe to the Mobile Robot Guide newsletter

Check out our COVID-19 resources page

Subscribe to the Mobile Robot Guide newsletter

Tweets by RoboticTips

Mobile Robot Guide
  • The Robot Report
  • Robotic Business Review
  • Collaborative Robotics
  • Field Robotics Forum
  • Healthcare Robotics
  • Robo Business
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search

  • Home
  • News
  • Systems / Platforms
    • Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)
    • Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
    • Autonomous Forklifts
    • Drones / UAVs
    • Other Systems / Platforms
  • Markets / Industries
    • Agriculture
    • Construction & Mining
    • Consumer / Office
    • Defense / Security / Public Safety
    • Education / Research
    • Healthcare / Medical
    • Hospitality / Travel
    • Logistics / Warehouse / Transportation
    • Manufacturing
    • Retail / Wholesale
    • Energy / Utilities
    • Other
  • Applications
    • Move
      • Delivery
      • Intralogistics
    • Perform
      • Disinfecting
      • Telepresence
      • Manipulating
      • Vacuuming
      • Washing
    • Sense
      • Inspection
      • Search
      • Surveillance
      • Surveying
      • Mapping
      • Exploration
    • Other Applications
      • Development
      • Research
  • Resources
    • AMR Glossary
    • FAQ
    • Case Study
    • Find a Vendor
    • What is Robots as a Service
    • Mobile Robot Standards
    • Websites
      • The Robot Report
      • Robotics Business Review
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Webinars and Digital Events
    • Publications
      • Robotic Solutions for COVID-19
    • Newsletter
  • Events
    • 2021 Robotics Weeks
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • RoboBusiness Direct
    • Field Robotics Forum
    • 2022 RBR50 Awards
    • R&D 100
  • Podcast
    • Podcast Archives