Skilled labor shortages, monotonous manufacturing processes, and growing production pressure are not new issues for German SMEs. What's new is how companies like Metallux AG from Leutenbach are responding: with a startup as a partner that makes robotics accessible without requiring an engineering degree.

Metallux AG is an internationally renowned developer and manufacturer of sensors. Their products are used in countless industrial applications and demand the highest precision. On the other side is XITO, the robotics platform from Ulm-based Toolify Robotics GmbH. A young company with the ambition of making automation as simple as possible for mid-sized businesses.

Uwe Zimmermann, production manager at Metallux, describes what connects the two: "It became clear to us fairly quickly, that a cobot was the best option, since the labor shortage is likely to keep growing." An assessment he shares with the entire SME sector: "The whole sector will have to act in this direction; we are not a special case."



Tedious work – with a system

The specific trigger for the cooperation was a task Zimmermann describes simply: "This work is truly mind-numbingly tedious."Taking circular resistors out of styrofoam blister packs, placing them precisely on the table of an inkjet printer, pushing them through the print head, and placing them into a finished-parts blister — hundreds of times per shift. Essential for traceability, but hardly tolerable as a permanent task for qualified employees.

The human body gets tired, precision drops, and the error rate rises. There's also a constant underlying worry: what happens if someone is out sick? Zimmermann is clear in his appreciation: "The employees who do this work are simply incredible" but he knows that their skills could be better used elsewhere.



Flexibility instead of isolated solutions

What Metallux found in XITO wasn't a rigid, specialized device, but an open platform. Using a vacuum gripper, the cobot takes the resistors out of the blister pack, places them in a rotating fixture, checks the correct print position via a camera mounted on the arm, and precisely pushes the component through the print head — a technically demanding task given the narrow 7 mm print area. It then places the finished part into the output blister. The entire process now runs across three shifts, and Zimmermann handles supply pragmatically: A light signal indicates when an employee from another department should simply bring the next stack of blister packs.



What this cooperation carries

The example of Metallux and XITO is no coincidence. It illustrates five principles that make start-up-SME collaborations successful:

1. Concrete problem first . No pilot project just for the sake of it. Metallux had a clearly defined, painful task, and XITO offered the perfect solution. Abstract digitization initiatives without a clear problem focus, by contrast, regularly fail.

2. Low entry barrier: XITO deliberately avoids complex machine integration and safety enclosures. The production manager programmed the cobot himself with just a few hours of training. Technological autonomy stays with the customer.

3. Scalable ambition. From the start, Metallux thought beyond the first use case. Good startup partners build solutions that can grow with the business.

4. Bringing employees along. According to Zimmermann, the colleague who used to place the resistors is "happy" with the robot and has already asked what its name is. Acceptance comes from involvement, not announcements.

5. An honest cost-benefit calculation. Zimmermann sums it up matter-of-factly: "The XITO platform pays off for us." No tech hype, no vague promises of efficiency — just a clear business case as the basis for the decision.