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Why AIR?
Automated Industrial Robotics (AIR) unites technical depth, operational strength, and modern capability in a single partner built for ambitious manufacturers.
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Sectors
Discover how AIR can help your drive innovation, efficiency, and scale.
Sectors overview
Medical
Driving innovation in medical device assembly, surgical instruments, orthopedic, cardiology & CRM, peripheral and continence care, and more.
Pharma
AIR partners with leading pharmaceutical companies to design, build, and support advanced automation systems for complex, highly regulated production environments.
Semiconductor
Enabling startups, global semiconductor equipment OEMs, and semiconductor fabs to scale to high-volume production systems.
Food & beverage
Proven experience across a wide range of food and beverage manufacturing processes and products including tea, bakery, pet foods, ready meals, beverage and tobacco.
Automotive
We bring the latest automation thinking, expertise, and equipment from ultrasonic welding, clipping, screwing, and snapping to materials handling, inspection, and traceability.
Consumer goods
AIR brings together deep, specialist automation expertise to deliver complex solutions across cosmetics, personal care, pet care, and electronics manufacturing.
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About AIR
AIR combines deep engineering expertise, industrial scale, and advanced capability in one powerful partner for ambitious, progressive manufacturers.
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Capabilities
Deep process and systems expertise, engineered to optimize performance, efficiency, and long-term operational success.
Capabilities overview
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Sectors
We partner with ambitious, progressive manufacturers across the medical, pharma, semiconductor, food & beverage, automotive, and consumer goods sectors. Discover how AIR can help your drive innovation, efficiency, and scale.
Sectors overview
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Sectors
Emerging technology,
semiconductor and more
AIR in Silicon Valley focuses on high-tech industries, offering specialized expertise in semiconductors, medical products, renewable energy, emerging technologies and data storage. Across our six sites, we work in a range of sectors:
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Sectors
Medical, pharmaceutical
and more
AIR in Shannon, Ireland focuses on advanced automation for the MedTech industry. Across our six sites, we work in a range of sectors:
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Sectors
Deep expertise for
progressive manufacturers
Across our six sites, we offer specialized expertise and automation innovation to a range of sectors:
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Sectors
Pharma, medical, food and beverage,
consumer goods and more
Across our six sites, AIR works in a range of sectors:
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Sectors
Medical devices, filling
machines and more
AIR in Sligo, Ireland delivers advanced automation solutions for medical and life sciences manufacturers, including flexible filling systems and high-speed filling systems. Across our six sites, we work in a range of sectors:
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Sectors
Deep automotive
expertise and more
AIR in Rochester Hills specializes in the design and manufacture of fully integrated stand-alone assembly, specialized machines, and automated and secondary assembly equipment. Across our six sites, we work in a range of sectors:
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Automated PV cell handling & inspection for fragile photovoltaics

Project snapshot
Client:
Solar concentrator startup
Location:
N/A
Sector:
Product type:
Automated PV cell handling system
Rendering of a robotic pick head handling a photovoltaic cell
Challenge

Automate fragile PV cell handling and inspection

The startup needed to convert a manual PV cell handling process into automated operation. Cells are thin (<200 µm) and fragile, requiring precise vision inspection and careful handling to prevent damage, while also drying wet cells at the output of the process.

Innovation

Automated handling with vision inspection and drying

We delivered a fully automated PV cell handling system capable of inspection and safe processing.

Key elements of the solution included:

  • Vision system to verify cell quality and correct positioning.
  • Automated handling for wet or dry PV cells without causing damage.
  • Custom drying system developed collaboratively to meet throughput targets.
  • Factory automation software to integrate handling, inspection, and drying into a seamless process.
Result

Reliable high-throughput processing of fragile PV cells

The automated system enabled the startup to handle, inspect, and dry thin PV cells efficiently, reducing risk of breakage and supporting high-throughput manufacturing.

Case studies

The fragile PV cells required high-speed handling, inspection, and precise placement into custom carriers. Vision systems were needed at both input and output to detect defects and provide positional feedback….

A battery manufacturing startup needed to rapidly increase manufacturing capacity to support customer sample ramp-up. A laser ablation process for a critical layer in the battery stack had been proven…

A major hard disk manufacturer had developed a lab-scale UV processing technology and needed to scale it to high-volume production. The system had to handle media at high speed, integrate seamlessly with…

View all case studies
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Let’s talk

Talk to AIR’s team about your latest manufacturing challenge. We’re here to help you bring your latest innovations to market quickly and at scale. Ideating, designing, building, commissioning, and supporting your next wave of automated manufacturing.