Inside UK’s 1st Customisable Automated Robot Factory

Siemens is creating the UK's first fully customisable autonomous mobile robot (AMR) factory.

It has partnered with Expert Technologies Group and RMGroup, a robotics tech provider and a robotics integrator, to create customisable solutions for UK manufacturers. 

This collaboration is designed to tackle inefficient movement of materials across factory floors and warehouses.

Traditional automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have long been the default solution for internal logistics. 

However, AGVs rely on fixed tracks, embedded floor sensors or magnetic tape, meaning any change to a facility's layout demands costly, time-consuming infrastructure modifications.

AMRs overcome this limitation through onboard sensors and intelligent navigation software, enabling robots to move freely through dynamic environments without fixed guidance infrastructure.

Flexible factory logistics

The partnership brings together three complementary capabilities to create an end-to-end solution for UK manufacturers.

Siemens contributes its SIMOVE core control technology, which underpins both partners' AMR platforms and supports everything from autonomous logistics to real-time data collection for digital twin applications.

Expert Technologies Group has developed its FlexDrive AMR platform on Siemens SIMOVE systems, incorporating advanced path planning, obstacle avoidance and real-time dynamic positioning. 

The platform is engineered to scale from small deployments to fleets of more than one hundred robots.

RMGroup uses Siemens laser-based navigation software to deliver both conventional track-based and free navigation, including wireless safety technology with real-time location-based safety zones.

Brian Holliday, Managing Director for Siemens in the UK & Ireland, says: "This partnership demonstrates how UK-led innovation can deliver the advanced manufacturing technology our industry desperately needs. 

“By supporting UK manufacturers with locally developed, fully customisable solutions, we're showing that collaboration is essential to driving the digitalisation of British industry."

AMR applications

Typical deployment scenarios for the AMRs include moving components between workstations, transporting finished goods to storage and supplying materials to active production lines.

James Nicholls, Operations & Commercial Director at RMGroup, explains: "We've seen too many AGV and AMR implementations fail due to inadequate support or integration issues with overseas engineering teams. 

“This collaboration tackles that problem head-on by creating a truly UK-made, UK-supported end-to-end solution that our customers can rely on."

Paul Fletcher, Senior Manager at Expert Technologies Group, says: "Our FlexDrive AMR platform, powered by Siemens technology, represents a fundamental shift in how UK manufacturers can approach autonomous mobile robotics. 

“Rather than forcing businesses to adapt to rigid, off-the-shelf solutions, we're creating hyperflexible platforms that adapt to their needs."

Financing and scaling AMRs

A financing component has been built into the partnership through Siemens Financial Services, the financing arm of Siemens, which offers tailored funding solutions for both internal innovation projects and end-user investment in AMR deployment.

This addition aims to lower the barrier to adoption for manufacturers that may face capital constraints when investing in automation infrastructure.

The partnership addresses a gap that has historically limited uptake of AMR technology in the UK: the absence of a domestically manufactured, domestically supported solution.

By consolidating design, manufacture, integration and financing under one collaborative framework, the three partners aim to give manufacturers greater confidence in deploying autonomous logistics at scale.