ABB to empower OLA's mega-factory for electric scooters with robotics and automation solutions

Ola announced that it has selected ABB as one of its key partners for robotics and automation solutions for its mega-factory in India that will roll out the much-anticipated Ola electric scooter. Ola’s scooter mega-factory, billed to be the world’s largest scooter factory, is expected to be ready and operational in the coming months.

Ola will utilise ABB’s automation solutions in its factory’s key manufacturing process lines, including its painting and welding lines, while the ABB robots will be deployed extensively for the battery and motor assembly lines. These include ABB’s “IRB 5500” paint and “IRB 2600” Integrated Dressing robots in its painting and welding lines, and “IRB 6700” robots for assembly and material handling in the battery and motor assembly areas.

ABB robots will be digitally integrated into Ola’s AI-enabled mega-factory, to optimize robot performance, productivity and product quality. The use of ABB’s robots and automation solutions will ensure remote digital connectivity and monitoring of the robots that will ride on Ola’s proprietary AI engine and tech stack.

Announcing the agreement, Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, Ola, “We are delighted to bring on board ABB, a global leader in robotics, machine automation and digital services, as a key supplier and partner for robotics and automation solutions that will be deployed at our scooter mega-factory. ABB’s solutions will be riding on Ola’s own proprietary AI engine and tech stack embedded in our scooter mega-factory. We are bringing in global expertise and stitching up partnerships that will help us build out our factory in record speed and roll out the first of our electric scooters in the coming months”.

Ola is building its mega-factory on Industry 4.0 principles and to be powered by its own proprietary AI Engine and tech stack that will be deeply integrated into all its systems, continuously self-learning and optimising every aspect of the manufacturing process. This will provide unprecedented control, automation and quality to the entire operations, especially with Ola’s implementation of cyber-physical and advanced IoE systems.

With an initial annual capacity of 2 million units, Ola’s mega-factory will create 10,000 jobs and serve as the company’s global manufacturing hub for both India and international markets across Europe, UK, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. The mega-factory is also expected to be the country’s most automated, with about 5,000 robots and automated guided vehicles in use once the factory is fully operational to its full capacity.

Commenting on the partnership, Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India and South Asia, said, “We are privileged to be an end to end partner of OLA Electric and contribute to the EV vision of this pathbreaking company and of our nation. ABB’s sustainable robotics automation solutions will complement the vision to build this mega factory to further the EV journey of our country. Our integrated automation package with digital connectivity, riding on OLA’s AI platform will be instrumental in the roll out of these world-class scooters for India and the rest of the world. Increased automation and robotics to make shop-floors safer, more productive and of impeccable quality will fast-track India’s transition to one of the leading agile, self-reliant and high-tech manufacturing economies of the world.”