About Us
Introduction
At Devol we recognise that established businesses who are hungry for growth are often challenged to find new products and revenue streams beyond their current product offering, whilst remaining within their core capabilities.
Devol operates as a reverse consultant, seeking out and re-purposing existing technologies from one market to another to create new or improve products. Commercialising through collaboration with product & market experts.
We find the product opportunity, do the research, provide a road map, connect & establish business partnerships, assist in the development of the product and go to market strategy. Our job is done once a product has been delivered to market.
In return for our services, Devol receives an agreed fee linked to sales revenue of the established product.
Our Inspiration
George Charles Devol Jr.
An inventor, best known for creating the first industrial robot.
In the 1940s, Devol was focusing on manipulators and magnetic recording patents, but he took note of the introduction of automation into factories. He applied for a patent in 1954 and explained the concept to a fellow engineer, Joseph F. Engelberger, at a cocktail party where they discussed their favourite science fiction writers. Mr. Engelberger listened with interest and immediately seized on the significance of the new technology. Engelberger formed a company, Unimation Inc. to adapt and apply the ideas of Mr. Devol and other innovators.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame says, "Devol's patent for the first digitally operated programmable robotic arm represents the foundation of the modern robotics industry."
Devol's invention earned him the title "Grandfather of Robotics".
(Left: Joseph F .Engelberger - Right: George Charles Devol Jr.)