F&P Robotics helps robots and people to work together
P-Rob served the coffee at the Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) Forum for Swiss Foreign Trade. P-Rob is a personal robot and a product by F&P Robotics AG, a Swiss start-up that makes high-tech products for collaborative industrial robotics: “Our personal robots help people in medical and private contexts to manage life better and more comfortably”, says company founder Hansruedi Früh. He sees major potential in the care sector and works closely with hospitals, rehab centers and outpatient care institutions. The star of the robot crew is a gentle “care assistant” made of synthetic leather that can be used for such tasks as blood pressure measurement or controlled medicine intake. P-Rob can also be used for everyday tasks, such as watering flowers, opening windows, bringing glasses of water or helping to push a wheelchair – and it’s on-call 24 hours a day. P-Rob makes it possible for infirm or impaired people to live an independent life and helps caregivers with their work.
S-GE is providing representation and enabling the company to build a network in Germany
“We like the medical sector very much and would like to occupy this space on an international scale”, says Früh. 25 employees in Glattbrugg and Joint Ventures in China are responsible for making sure that F&P Robotics grows rapidly. A decisive step was the market entry in Germany, which happened through S-GE’s support. “I knew S-GE from a previous enterprise”, says Früh, “and once again, I’ve received professional, efficient support.” S-GE together with the Swiss Business Hub Germany provided the contact to Berners Consulting in Stuttgart. During the process of providing intensive support, which included analyzing the German market and holding in-depth talks with potential business partners, it became clear that the biggest opportunities for F&P are in the personal care sector. In response, Berners opened a German desk, where he operates in the German market on behalf of F&P. Hansruedi Früh is excited: “As a result, we were able to have a presence in Germany without having to found a subsidiary and recruit personnel.” And they’ve been successful: “We found many valuable contacts and the first orders have been placed.” And: “Further projects with S-GE are in the pipeline.”
We were able to establish a presence in Germany without having to found a subsidiary and recruit personnel.
— Dr. Hansruedi Früh, Managing Director
