Trip down memory lane: our partnership with FANUC.

31-01-2025

This year we celebrate a special milestone: our 30th anniversary! A perfect opportunity to look back at the innovations and collaborations that have brought us where we are today. In this series of stories, we take you through the history of DERO GROEP and share memorable moments from our past.

We kick off by looking back at one of our most important and longest-running collaborations: the one with FANUC. Ever since DERO was founded 30 years ago, we have been working with this leading robot manufacturer. But how did this collaboration begin? And why do we still choose FANUC today?

The origins

Our partnership with FANUC has its origins at Landré, the company where DERO GROEP founder Maro Dedel learned the field of robotics. Landré was already a dealer of FANUC CNC machines and added FANUC robots to its portfolio in 1985. This was also the year Maro joined Landré. At the time, FANUC's robotics branch operated under the name GMFanuc Robotics (GMF), a 50/50 joint venture between General Motors and FANUC.

GMF robots

The origin of the partnership between FANUC and DERO GROEP lies at Landré.

FANUC and General Motors

GMF was founded in 1982, a year after General Motors approached FANUC for a partnership. General Motors, in fact, had a big ambition: to robotize its production extensively. FANUC had started commercial production and export of industrial robots a few years earlier - developed in 1974 to automate production in their own factories - and with their expertise in CNC controls and machine building, FANUC had all the ingredients to build high-quality robots. The joint venture gave General Motors the unique opportunity to influence the development of advanced industrial robots and gave FANUC direct access to the world's largest robot market: the automotive industry.

GMF's first projects focused on paint spray robots, but soon other robotic models were developed as well. Thanks to FANUC's Japanese precision and drive and access to all General Motors car factories, GMF grew rapidly into a global player. In 1992, GMF became wholly owned by FANUC and was renamed FANUC Robotics Corporation.

The power of FANUC

One of the distinguishing factors of GMF and FANUC was, and still is, its extensive product line. Driven by the needs of the automotive sector, GMF developed numerous robotic models, also for other industries.

In addition, GMF had a unique programming language: KAREL, named after Karel Čapek, the creator of the word ‘robot’. KAREL is a higher programming language (similar to Pascal) and was developed by GMF based on knowledge from General Motors. With KAREL, programmers could use the robot controller as a cell controller and thus efficiently control both the robot and the robot's environment, eliminating the need for external PLCs. For a long time, KAREL was considered the only mature robot programming language.

For us, the combination of FANUC's broad product range, the outstanding quality and the possibilities of KAREL was a decisive reason to choose FANUC robots - a choice we still fully support 30 years later.

A GMFanuc robot with DERO gripper stacks boxes on a pallet

DERO has been working with FANUC robots since the beginning, then called GMFanuc.

30 years of partnership and innovation

What began as a partnership through Landré grew into an enduring relationship. As FANUC's system integrator, we have completed countless automation projects together. The continuous technological developments and the flexibility of FANUC's robots still make FANUC a perfect partner for DERO GROEP!

“The company’s strengths lie in attention to detail, always delivering as agreed and their commitment to finding a solution to every problem.”

// P. Mulder - Synergy Food  //

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