Custom automation promises to evolve into trillion-yuan industry as demand surges amid novel coronavirus spread
Pan Jing, founder of Shanghai TMiRob Technology, is a little bit overwhelmed by the unprecedentedly huge demand for the firm's disinfection robots after the novel coronavirus epidemic hit China hard.
"We have come across great challenges in our supply chain over the past week. All our inventory has been exhausted. Even the robot model demonstrated in the exhibition hall of our company has been purchased and delivered," he said on Feb 6.
The company wasted no time. Staff at TMiRob have been working overtime during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. To help combat the virus, TMiRob has so far delivered 42 disinfection robots to Hubei province, where the most infections have been reported. That number of delivered machines is equal to one-sixth of the company's monthly output, said Pan.
By combining chloric acid and plasma, the company's robot can disinfect the environment where both human beings and machines are present. The robot can move around on its own and deliver intensive disinfection services in areas frequented by patients and medical workers alike. The robot can operate automatically so it can minimize people's extra exposure to the hospital environment, said Pan.
At present, TMiRob's disinfection robot has been used in 60 hospitals in China, among which 14 are based in Shanghai, said Pan. Another 70 Chinese hospitals are using other robot models produced by the company. With more staff returning to their positions after the holiday, the company is expected to produce 300 robots every month, he said.
Founded in January 2015, TMi-Rob has mainly targeted the high-end medical service robots. One year later, the company obtained the first patent for invention. Two of its robot models entered on-site trials at a hospital in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province that has become somewhat infamous as the epidemic's epicenter.
Source: China Daily
