US-based market intelligence company Transparency Market Research (TMR) announced the addition of a new research report on the global mobile robotics market. The report, titled Mobile Robotics Market (Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) including Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019, studied the global mobile robotics market and its elementary segments in great detail. It forecasts that the global mobile robotics market, which valued US $6,249.6 million in 2012, could grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6% from 2013 to 2019 and acquire market value worth approximately US $14,202.2 million by 2019. The growth of the market was primarily driven by rise in use of mobile robotics in domestic, industrial, agricultural, and medical applications. Read more here. 

One of the most important reasons to work with a seasoned expert in material handling is to know the history of the companies prior to the record mergers & acquisitions (M&A). Josh Bond reported in Material Handling Product News that industrial manufacturing M&A value skyrockets past historic levels. Bond noted that merger and acquisition activity in first nine months of 2014 surpassed annual totals in the previous decade. Following a historic second quarter, M&A activity in the industrial manufacturing sector maintained a strong momentum in the third quarter of 2014. These are among the results of Assembling Value, a quarterly analysis of global deal activity in the industrial manufacturing industry by PwC US. With $102.7 billion in deal proceeds recorded so far this year, the first nine months of 2014 have already exceeded all annual totals of the last 10 years. 

In the third quarter of 2014, there were 55 industrial manufacturing transactions worth $50 million or more, for a total deal value of $27 billion. On a year-over-year basis, the first nine months of 2014 surged 165% to $102.7 billion, from $38.7 billion in 2013. This increase in value is mainly driven by five mega deals (transactions worth more than $1 billion) which accounted for 75% of total deal value to date. In addition, divestures made up 38% of total year-to-date deal volume and 51% of deal value. Beyond M&A activity, Linde Material Handling North America Corporation announced it will change its corporate name to KION North America Corporation, effective 2015. This change will allow the company to better align itself with its European parent company. The KION Group will serve as a platform for the company's KION 2020 North American growth strategy. It is completely unreasonable to expect AGV and material handling decision-makers to stay on top of this fast-paced, ever-changing market.  It defines why No Risk Automation exists.