“I could do that if I can get the Illinois facility to make them fast enough,” Miller said.
Astronics, which is headquartered near Buffalo, New York, supplies technology to the commercial aviation, defense and space industries. In 2017, Astronics acquired Telefonix PDT, a suburban Chicago company that makes in-flight entertainment equipment for the airline industry.
Xenex worked with Telefonix PDT to help design an earlier version of the robot. When demand skyrocketed this year, exceeding production capacity at its Xenex’s San Antonio factory, the company struck a deal with Astronics to build several hundred robots in Waukegan through spring 2021.
The Waukegan facility, which opened in 2019 and employs about 300 full-time workers, was able to pivot to robots as airline industry demand slowed during the pandemic, said Astronics spokeswoman Deborah Pawlowski.
Astronics delivered its first batch of Illinois-made robots late last month. Each will be named by its new owner, with an engraved nameplate attached to the robot.
Northwest Community Hospital bought Jabba in March and Dorian in July. Rowan and Mark came aboard in early September.
Rolled into position and plugged into a wall outlet, the robot is activated remotely and operates in a closed room, to keep from blinding the handler, usually a member of the housekeeping staff. Its head rises another 2 feet and a super bright xenon bulb lights up. Two to four minutes later, the cleaning is complete.
