Blog Tesla Acquires Factory Automation Company

Tesla has acquired Minnesota-based Perbix, a maker of factory automation equipment.

“With the acquisition of Perbix, Tesla further advances its efforts to turn the factory itself into a product – to build the machine that makes the machine,” Tesla said on its website.

It seems the company plans to grow its presence in Minnesota, as the announcement links to a careers page with seven open positions.

On last week’s earnings call, Musk outlined problems with battery module production that are delaying the company’s Model 3 deliveries. He said the company redirected its best engineers to fine-tune the automated processes and related robotic programming and believes the reconfigured system will be capable of production rates significantly greater than the original specification. At one point Musk described robots working in a high-speed blur.

Perbix and Tesla have worked together for the past three years. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

 

[sandpiper]

So, 10M dollars isn't a large automation company. And, unless I'm missing something, it won't add appreciably to the resources currently on the M3 or GF projects.

There's more to this story.

 

[jbcarioca]

Indeed there is more to the story:
Tesla gains a Minnesota engineering center after buying Brooklyn Park-based Perbix
"Perbix, which started as a maker of machining equipment 41 years ago, has quietly been working with Tesla for nearly three years on automated tools that include a system that makes the drive-unit rotors in its cars. Tesla said it also has Perbix equipment in its so-called Gigafactory, a battery manufacturing plant near Reno, Nev."

Perbix seems to have about 150 people. They also seem to be concentrated in two recent pain points for Model 3.
That may be the real reason, not so many engineers, but ones performing well in a difficult area.

From a single local press report it is possible I'm jumping to conclusions, but it does seem too coincidental to be coincidence.

 

[electracity]

So, 10M dollars isn't a large automation company. And, unless I'm missing something, it won't add appreciably to the resources currently on the M3 or GF projects.

There's more to this story.

It just a form of recruitment. They get the current engineers employed by the firm, plus can recruit more engineers to regional office of the various engineering companies.

It's expensive to recruit engineers to California. People moving long distance for a job are probably more likely to quit too. Part of the Tesla Grohmann acquisition is to have a place to recruit the many German automotive engineers.

Tesla and SpaceX spend a lot of money chasing talent. Many of these recruits don't stay long. It seems to me that gathering up these small companies is a smart way to make a regional office. Employees excited about working in the mothership can eventually more to California. The homebodies can stay near home.

 

[mongo]

It is also forming an interesting strategy from a competition point of view.

1. Find the best groups in automation.
2. Hire them to make things.
3. If they are good at it, buy the company.

When other OEM's try to duplicate what the Dreadnought does, there will not be any available teams with the experience to help. Also keeps IP and tribal knowledge close to home.