Data-center infrastructure supplier Tate Inc. has deployed 58 Hirebotics Cobot Welders across manufacturing plants in Arkansas, Virginia and Kentucky, reporting a 12x per-welder throughput gain on critical structural assemblies as it scales output for the hyperscale build boom.
From nine bidders to a Nashville pick
Tate evaluated roughly nine automation providers before choosing Hirebotics. Sales director Daniel Adams said Hirebotics' team welded Tate's sample parts within 30 minutes of arrival and demonstrated on-site programming during the initial visit. The Beacon Pro no-code cloud platform lets operators program, run and monitor the cobots from any smartphone or tablet, with training runs typically taking 10 to 20 minutes.
Cobots feed downstream industrial arms
The first two robots shipped to Tate in September 2023. Since then, Tate's Arkansas plant has pioneered a workflow where cobots tack and pre-assemble parts to feed downstream industrial robots, keeping production flowing at pace. "No production components are hand-welded anymore," Adams said.
Playlists, not tribal knowledge
Tate's certified programmers encode exact torch angles and travel speeds directly into Beacon Pro, so floor operators execute repeatable welds regardless of skill level. The three plants now share weld programs and parameters in real time, and Tate is among the first operators of Hirebotics' new Cobot Painter, which reuses the same Beacon Pro stack.
The move is emblematic of an accelerating cobot-in-heavy-industry cycle also visible in the HII $900M pact with Path and GrayMatter Robotics and the KUKA/Contoro AdaptAI trailer-unloading rollout.
Reporting based on coverage from The Robot Report and Hirebotics.