History

Our Expertise, Experience & Excellence are all part of history and future.

Vintage volvo car

The first Automotive Industry which using AGV technology was Volvo for the model 164 in the early 70th ́s and the technology is owned by Atab, Sweden.

Atab’s roots and history goes as far back as to 1973 and Volvo Kalmar in Sweden. This is where the automotive industry first began to use Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) instead of the previous slat conveyor system. Here 280 AGVs were set in motion to produce the Volvo 164 model on a non- synchronous assembly line.

Atab is proud to have one of the most experienced AGV teams on the market. Two thirds of our staff have been in the AGV business for more than 20 years, Atab currently have 350 man years of AGV knowledge and expertise in our portfolio, with a huge database stemming right back to the early Volvo and BT era.

Atab was founded not long after Swisslog decided to sell out the production subsidiaries, and among these was their AGV manufacturing. Rocla Oyj, Finland bought the production unit in Sweden but after only 2 years they closed it and moved back to Finland. However, the Swedish mananagment team did not want to give up and therefore decided to start up their own AGV manufacturing business in Gothenburg. From this Atab was born. Atab purchased the intellectual property rights, components and spare parts rights from Rocla Oyj for all legacy systems built in Sweden. Supporting these legacy systems with spare parts is today an important part of our business. Atab now own a full range of products for different AGV technology platforms, which complement our existing product range.

Throughout the years one major advantage has been the collaboration with the software partner “Soft Design AB”. Together we have developed and introduced a new range of AGVs and controls under the brand MAXAGV. MAX is the AGV control system and includes the very latest tools and technology. It is based on standard Microsoft products and very user friendly. The onboard AGV electronics goes under the name “SONIX” and is based on the industrial PC104 platform which can be implemented into a varity of AGV designs and applications.