Formic Opens 53,000-Square-Foot Chicagoland Headquarters to Meet Growing Demand for Its AI-Powered Robotic Automation

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Formic, a Full Service Automation provider for U.S. manufacturers, celebrated the grand opening of its new 53,000-square-foot headquarters in Bolingbrook, IL, its largest facility to date and five times the size of its previous location. The June 11th event brought together manufacturing partners, customers, and local officials, including Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta of Bolingbrook, who joined Formic leadership in a robot ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

The move comes as Formic surpasses 650,000 production hours across its robotic fleet, a milestone that reflects the growing demand for Full Service Automation among small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers who can't afford to fall behind. But that milestone doesn't just reflect demand; it's the foundation of Formic's AI advantage. That data trains Cortex and Core, Formic's proprietary models for scoping, deployment, and real-time operation, giving Formic a compounding edge that grows with every system it deploys, backed by the largest independent robotic fleet in the United States.

"This space exists because the demand is real, the pipeline is growing, and we need the room to meet it," said Danijel Lolic, COO of Formic. "When we started, we had one core application and a clear conviction that the Robots-as-a-Service model could change manufacturing. What you see on this floor today is proof that the conviction was right and the model works. We've expanded from palletizing into case packing, pallet wrapping, and now machine tending, application categories that open up entirely new customers and facilities.”

A Facility Built for What's Next

On June 11th, attendees got a look at the full breadth of Formic's rapidly expanding automation lineup:

• Palletizing: Where Formic started. The company built its reputation deploying palletizing solutions for food, beverage, and consumer goods manufacturers facing chronic labor shortages at the end of the line.
• Case Packing: An expansion of Formic's end-of-line automation footprint, helping manufacturers automate one of the most labor-intensive steps in the packaging process.
• Pallet Wrapping: Debuted publicly for the first time at Thursday’s event, adding another critical end-of-line capability to the Formic offering.
• Machine Tending: Formic's newest application category opens the door to metal components manufacturers supplying aerospace, automotive, and industrial customers; the facilities that have needed automation the longest but faced the steepest barriers to entry.

“Machine tending alone represents a massive expansion of who we can serve," said Shawn Fitzgerald, CRO of Formic. “We're talking about metal components manufacturers, the shops making parts for aerospace and automotive, who have not been able to automate due to capital constraints. Now they can unlock more production hours than ever before to get the job done without requiring that huge upfront cost and all the maintenance that comes along with it. The competitive landscape is shifting fast, and the manufacturers who act now are the ones who will win. We want to be their partner when they make that call."

The Model Scales with the Mission

As Formic expands its application categories, the commercial model stays the same: no capital expenditure, one flat monthly rate, full service from deployment through ongoing maintenance, and contracted production performance. Every new system Formic brings to market ships with the same guarantee.

Formic was founded in 2020 to make automation accessible to every U.S. manufacturer, regardless of size. That mission has not changed; what has changed is the scope of what's possible and the scale of the operation behind it.

If you missed Formic in Bolingbrook, Formic is opening a second new facility on the West Coast in Oakland, California, on August 19th. Join them for that grand opening by RSVPing here.

About Formic

Formic was founded in 2020 to accelerate the accessibility and ease of automation across American manufacturing by delivering the positive outcomes that robotic automation enables: more capacity, consistency, and reliability; less cost, downtime, and worker safety issues.

For $0 in capital investment, Formic's Full Service Automation model delivers the equipment and systems to do the job, the service and parts to keep it running, and the technology and software to measure real-time productivity and optimize performance - all for one flat monthly rate.

Learn more at formic.co or by emailing [e-mail].