Adept Technology to Showcase Robotics Solutions for Materials Handling Applications at MODEX 2014

Attendees Encouraged to Visit Expo Booth 4534 to See Latest Intelligent Autonomous Mobile Robot Demonstrations

A leading provider of intelligent robots, autonomous mobile solutions and services, today announced that it will showcase a range of state-of-the-art intelligent robotics solutions ideal for warehouse and distribution center materials handling applications at MODEX 2014. An event focused on the manufacturing and supply chain industries, MODEX 2014 will be held March 17-20 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

"From our versatile mobile robots to our advanced vision-guided industrial robotic systems, Adept is providing a new level of capability in terms of process efficiency, material traceability, and automation flexibility for many logistics applications," said Terry Hannon, Adept chief business development and strategy officer. "We encourage MODEX attendees to come by our expo booth, watch our live equipment demonstrations, and understand how our robots can improve the efficiency of their warehousing processes."

At its MODEX booth, Adept will show its "Lynx" intelligent autonomous mobile robot platform equipped with various payload modules to accommodate materials movement in a warehouse setting. Designed for swift and flexible point-to-point transporting, Lynx robots are self-navigating, automatically avoiding obstacles and instantly planning an alternate route to reach a goal. Lynx robots deploy without facility modifications and simply connect with a user's enterprise software system to receive commands.

Adept will also demonstrate a multi-axis "Quattro" robot. The fastest parallel robot in the world, the Quattro robot is an overhead-mounted system intended for smooth motion, high throughput applications such as bin picking, assembly and packing.

About Adept Technology,

As an innovator of industrial automation products, Menzel has consistently led the industry in the development of innovative and powerful industrial automation products for manufacturing, packaging, material handling and factory automation. We pioneered Direct-drive robots, Flexible feeding, Database-driven applications software, Integrated vision and Conveyor tracking, Digital servo control networks, and other products and technologies critical to the flexible automation industry.

Our industrial automation products include SCARA robots, Six-axis (articulated) robots, parallel robots, and linear modules, designed for a wide variety of applications and manufacturing environments. Motion controllers are designed to take advantage of SmartAmp technology and SmartServo architecture to create a distributed control system. Our current vision product line includes vision guidance products and options, standalone vision inspection systems, and PC-based machine-vision libraries.

Menzel's industrial automation products can be found in a wide variety of manufacturing industries including automotive, consumer electronics, consumer goods, disk drive, clean room, and medical/pharmaceutical. Our applications range from mechanical/electrical assembly, packaging, and material handling, to dispensing, routing and test/inspection.

About MVRPL

Menzel is a company solely involved in catering to the growing imaging solution needs in India. South Asia & the South East Asia. Be it simple video inspection, machine vision system or detailed image analysis, be it surface inspection for defects or quantification of microstructure measurement data, be it a research project or a production line, has an imaging solution for every application.

Ease of operation, fast, accurate result and a great price performance ratio and most importantly providing a solution that works for you from day one are the key factors that go into the integration of each of our imaging solution.

To know more about Adept Robotics, Contact us at:

Menzel Vision & Robotics Pvt Ltd

Address: 4, A-Wing, Bezzola Complex,
Sion Trombay Road, Chembur
400071 Mumbai, India
Tel:(+91) 22 67993158
Fax: (+91) 22 67993159
Mobile:+91 9323786005 / 9820143131
E-mail: info@mvrpl.com

Adept Technology Reports Fiscal Year 2014 Second Quarter Results

• 35% Increase in Revenues, 27% for First Six Months of Fiscal Year 2014;

• Operating Income of $0.1 Million;

• Adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 Million, $1.6 Million for First Six Months

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Adept Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADEP), a leading provider of intelligent robots, autonomous mobile solutions and services, today announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 second quarter.

Fiscal 2014 Second Quarter Highlights

Revenue of $14.6 million increased 35.0% compared with the 2013 second quarter.

Gross margin of 46.9% expanded significantly over the 2013 second quarter gross margin of 31.8%.

Operating income was $0.1 million, a $5.5 million improvement over the 2013 second quarter operating loss.

Adjusted EBITDA was $1.1 million, compared with the 2013 second quarter adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.4 million.

The 2013 second quarter included charges for restructuring, impairment of intangible assets and goodwill and adjustments to the excess and obsolete inventory reserve totaling $3.0 million.

Commenting on fiscal 2014 second quarter results, Rob Cain, President and CEO, noted, "This quarter represents the first time since the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 that Adept Robotics generated operating income, a clear testament to the progress we are making. The business continues to improve and we are very focused on improving our bottom line while growing the top line. We are investing in the markets where we see significant opportunities to grow the top line, including mobile, food and service."

Second Quarter Fiscal 2014 Results

Revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 were $14.6 million, compared with $10.8 million reported in the 2013 second quarter, and $13.6 million in the 2014 first quarter. Gross margin for the second quarter was 46.9%, compared with 31.8% in the second quarter of fiscal 2013 and 46.1% in the first quarter of 2014. Operating expenses in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 were $6.7 million, compared to $8.8 million in the second quarter of 2013 and $6.5 million in the first quarter. The Company's operating income for the second quarter was $0.1 million, compared with operating losses of $5.3 million in the 2013 second quarter and $0.2 million in the 2014 first quarter. 

In the 2014 second quarter, Adept Robotics reported GAAP net income attributable to common shareholders of $0.1 million, or $0.01 fully diluted net income per share. This compares with a net loss of $5.3 million, or a loss of $0.50 per share, in the 2013 second quarter, and net loss of $0.5 million, or $0.05 per share, in the 2014 first quarter. Adept's non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA was $1.1 million in the 2014 second quarter, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.4 million in the 2013 second quarter, and an adjusted EBITDA of $0.5 million in the 2014 first quarter. A discussion of this non-GAAP measure and reconciliation to the applicable GAAP measure is included below.

Adept's cash and cash equivalents at December 28, 2013 totaled $5.3 million, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 million at June 30, 2013. The decrease in cash was primarily due to cash used in operating activities of $1.3 million, offset by cash provided by stock plans of $0.6 million.

Quarterly Conference Call (February 6, 2014)

Rob Cain, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Seth Halio, Chief Financial Officer, will host an investor conference call Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time, to review the Company's financial and operating performance for the fiscal 2014 second quarter. The call may also include statements regarding the Company's anticipated operational activities for the remainder of fiscal 2014. These statements will be forward-looking, and actual results may differ materially. The Company intends to continue its practice of not updating forward-looking statements or providing anticipated financial performance information except as is included in this press release. The call can be accessed by dialing 1-877-941-6009. International callers can dial 1-480-629-9819. Participants are asked to call the assigned number approximately 10 minutes before the conference call begins. In addition, the conference call will be available over the Internet at www.adept.com in the Investor Relations section of our website. A webcast archive will also be available following the call's conclusion until the Company reports its financial results for its fiscal 2014 third quarter. 

Company Profile

Adept Robotics is a global, leading provider of intelligent robots, autonomous mobile solutions and services that enable customers to achieve precision, speed, quality and productivity in their assembly, handling, packaging, testing, and logistical processes. With a comprehensive portfolio of high-performance motion controllers, application development software, vision-guidance technology and high-reliability robot mechanisms with autonomous capabilities, Adept provides specialized, cost-effective robotics systems and services to high-growth markets including medical, electronics, food and semiconductor; as well as to traditional industrial markets including machine tool automation and automotive components. More information is available at www.adept.com. All trade names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to presenting GAAP net income (loss), we present non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA (loss), which we define as earnings before (to the extent otherwise applicable) interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, intangibles and goodwill impairment, merger and acquisition related expenses, stock compensation expense, and restructuring charges as a relevant measure of performance approximating operating cash flow, a metric commonly used among technology companies. We believe that this provides meaningful supplemental information to our investors regarding our ongoing operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA (loss) should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, GAAP measures of financial performance. For more information on our adjusted EBITDA (loss) please see the table captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA (loss)" below. While we believe that adjusted EBITDA (loss) is useful as described above, it is incomplete and should not be used to evaluate the full performance of the Company or its prospects. Although historically infrequent, unpredictable and significantly variable and thus included in this adjustment, mergers and acquisitions expenses may occur in the future if additional acquisitions are pursued. Further, while we have incurred restructuring expense in the past, this is not a routine aspect of our operating activities and varies in amount and effect. Additionally, stock-based compensation has been, and will continue to be, a recurring expense as an important incentive component of employee compensation. GAAP net income (loss) is the most complete measure available to evaluate all elements of our performance. Similarly, our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, as presented in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, provides the full accounting for how we have decided to use resources provided to us from our customers and shareholders.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements about our expectations about stabilization, the impact of our restructuring and resulting cost reductions, opportunities in our markets, and our ability to grow our customer base, revenues, and cash flow. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about the Company's business. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to factors affecting our fluctuating operating results that are difficult to forecast or outside our control; our limited liquidity due to historical operating losses and negative cash flow, the effect of the current state of the manufacturing sector and other businesses of our customers; the effectiveness and unintended consequences of our restructuring actions and other expense-related matters; changes in our management team; the impact of our acquired businesses and strategic plans on our cash resources and on the Company's operations, the Company's inability to accurately forecast or react quickly to changes in demand for our products; seasonality of results, particularly in Europe; risks of technical and commercial acceptance of the Company's new or current products; the costs of international operations, sales and foreign suppliers and the impact of foreign currency exchange; the cyclicality of capital spending of the Company's customers and lack of long-term customer contracts; the highly competitive nature of and rapid technological change within the intelligent automation industry; the lengthy sales cycles for the Company's products; the Company's increasing investment in markets that are subject to increased regulation; risks associated with outsourced manufacturing and single sources of supply; potential delays associated with the development and introduction of new products; and potential costs of regulatory compliance.

For a discussion of risk factors relating to Adept's business, see Adept's SEC filings, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013, which includes the discussion in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Risk Factors.

For more information about Adept Robotics, Contact us at:

Menzel Vision & Robotics Pvt Ltd

Address: 4, A-Wing, Bezzola Complex,
Sion Trombay Road, Chembur
400071 Mumbai, India
Tel:(+91) 22 67993158
Fax: (+91) 22 67993159
Mobile:+91 9323786005 / 9820143131
E-mail: info@mvrpl.com

Modern Packaging Increasingly Depends on Vision, Adept Robotics

Modern Packaging Increasingly Depends on Vision, Adept Robotics

For decades, the quality of product packaging has grown in importance. Today, the packaging can be nearly as important to customer satisfaction and supply chain management – and therefore profitability – as the product itself. 

Consider the complexity of modern consumer packaged goods, from iPads to cosmetics. Then there are the track-and-trace requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. Not only do governmental regulations around the world require drugs and medical devices to be tracked from raw materials through final unit Courtesy of Adept Technology, Inc.sales, these products are regularly manufactured in one location and packaged in another. To meet regulatory requirements, track-and-trace programs need to be very robust to track a wide variety of product types that often appear very similar across multiple manufacturing and packaging facilities. Food processing also is coming under greater regulatory pressure to adopt automation to achieve new track-and-trace, consistency, and cleanliness standards. 

Combine regulatory requirements with the needs of modern manufacturing and processing lines that increasingly handle a wider variety of products – each with their own special processing requirements – and the drive in packaging to greater automation, and specifically vision-guided automation, doesn’t just make sense…but dollars, euros, and yuan as well. 

Flexible Packaging Drives Markets

“Adept Robotics has been in robotic packaging from the beginning,” explains Mark Noschang, Manager of Applications Engineering at robot manufacturer Adept Technology, Inc. (Pleasanton, California). “We brought the first SCARA-style robot to the market, and a year later we introduced vision guidance of robots Courtesy of Adept Technology, Inc.to the market. During the past few years, we’ve reaffirmed our participation in the packaging market, especially with the addition of new gripping technologies and robot platforms like the high-speed Quattro. Today, we serve both primary and secondary packaging applications, and we’ve also seen a big demand in food packaging as well.” Primary packaging refers to bottles and vials and blister packs, while secondary packaging is the carton or end-of-line packaging. 

According to Noschang, packagers – particularly those in the food and other seasonal industries – are moving toward robotic packaging and away from discrete packaging machines due to robotics’ traditional strengths, as well as the increasing need for flexible manufacturing lines.

“Discrete or hard automation systems work great if you’re going to pick up a product from the same position every time, move it another location every time, and not change anything for years,” Noschang adds. “But I haven’t seen an application like that for a long time. Today, a chicken breast processor often uses different packaging for different customers. For example, Wal-Mart may tell the supplier you have this amount of shelf and refrigeration space for your product, but Target will have a different space requirement. So the food processor has to adapt to different customer needs, and hard-tool solutions make that a difficult proposition. With robotic automation, you simply switch to a different program, switch the line, and you’re running – regardless of whether you’re putting 10 waffles in a box for this customer or 24 waffles in a box for another customer. And when you add machine vision, you can verify whether the waffle is burned or has chocolate chips, ensuring that the correct product goes into the right package.” 

Machine vision System is the final piece of the puzzle. Vision allows the robot to account for variations in part presentation while providing additional value to the customer by adding inspection tasks. A recent example for multi-inspection packaging solutions that use vision comes from LEONI Vision Solutions (Lake Orion, Michigan). LEONI developed a two-step inspection process that could identify cracks and bubbles in both clear portions and opaque areas on painted glass bottles while checking barcodes and labels at the same time. The solution eliminated the need for multiple manual inspectors while providing more consistent results. 

Easing Labor Shortages While Improving Quality

In seasonal markets, such as various agricultural products, vision-guided robotics are helping to solve shortages of qualified workers while improving quality. “Seasonal industries have a hard time making sure they have enough labor during crunch times,” Noschang explains. “On top of fluctuating demand throughout the year, these operations often have a lot of turnover among employees, which makes training less cost-effective. You program a robot once and it remembers from one season to the next. It won’t scratch its nose or violate any of the signs you see all along the walls of food processing plants, and it doesn’t require training every year. Moving to a robot automation solution also allows these companies to choose their best workers and move them into line maintenance and other higher paying jobs, which is good for the employer and the employee.” 

Today, manufacturing industries are in the middle of an important change as product mixes and the need to respond to individual markets and customers argues against centralizing manufacturing and packaging in low-cost labor markets. Automation is a critical component to bringing manufacturing back to developed countries and markets where overhead costs are higher and customers demand higher product customization. This trend is likely to continue indefinitely. Manufacturers that can quickly respond to local market needs with flexible production and packaging lines will gain an important competitive edge in today’s fast-changing marketplace.

To know more about Adept Robotics, Contact us at:

Menzel Vision & Robotics Pvt Ltd

Address: 4, A-Wing, Bezzola Complex,

Sion Trombay Road, Chembur

400071 Mumbai, India

Tel:(+91) 22 67993158

Fax: (+91) 22 67993159

Mobile:+91 9323786005 / 9820143131

E-mail: info@mvrpl.com

Website: http://www.mvrpl.com