Major appointment to target multi-million pound 'autonomous robot' opportunity for iconsys

Graham Lee has joined the independent system integrator as business development manager and will be using his knowledge of automation and robot systems to target a multi-million pound opportunity for the Telford-based company.

The former Controls Manager will be responsible for ramping up the roll-out of the company's Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) that can be integrated across numerous industry sectors, such as automotive, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), food & beverage (F&B), medical, logistics and pharma.

Multiple blue-chip companies have already adopted this technology and are benefiting from iconsys' holistic approach, which includes evaluating the situation, designing the tailored solution and then deployment, plus life cycle maintenance to ensure the customer's objectives are achieved.

"The latest industry findings show that by 2024, nearly four fifths of FMCG companies will be operating AMRs, with the logistics sector expecting them to be widespread across all distribution hubs," said Graham.

"These figures clearly underline the opportunity and where many sectors are heading, with the use of autonomous technology set to be used to overcome skills shortages, increase efficiencies and to support new processes on the factory floor.

"Iconsys is already leading the way. Not only are we providing AMRs with sophisticated top modules, our in-house system software platform AMRconnect can also integrate fleets to high-level ERP and MES business systems and industrial factory floor control systems.

"This provides analytics for production feedback data that any customer can use to improve their knowledge of their own machines.

"For more than 25 years, I have used a consultative approach to identify many pain points for clients, such as Muller, JLR, Mondelez, Lear and BMW. I will will now use this knowledge to recommend our integrated technologies to solve issues for our customers."

Nick Darrall, managing director at iconsys, said: "We are delighted to welcome Graham to the team and believe this appointment strengthens our commitment to our 2020+ growth strategy, which aims to increase turnover to £20 million in five years by encouraging industry to adopt automation and digital technology."

Graham's appointment is one of 16 jobs created ahead of the official launch of iconsys' £3 million new smart building in Telford.

The company is in the final stages of its relocation to a 17,500 sq ft site on Stafford Park that will deliver a substantial increase in available manufacturing floorspace, a new technology demonstration/training area, an amphitheatre and an office of the future for agile working.

As part of the move, additional software, electrical and mechanical engineers have been recruited to help the company continue to provide end-to-end solutions to its expanding client base.

Graham added: "COP26 underlined the global need for all of us to do our bit to reduce our carbon footprint and the AMRs can deliver environmental benefits – this has already started to become a frequent part of my initial conversations."