Following parent Alvest Group’s acquisition of domain technology leader EasyMile, TLD Robotics has begun operations looking to specialise in autonomous ground operations, bringing together autonomous software, industrial vehicle capacity, deployment expertise and customer support in a single, integrated business.
Combining a decade of autonomy expertise with industrial manufacturing capabilities and global support network, TLD Robotics says going forward, it will unify autonomous vehicle technology, deployment and ongoing service.
The company’s customers include Dnata, BMW Group Dingolfing, Daimler Truck AG, Bosch, John Deere, Munich and Narita Airports and Lufthansa Cargo. A global network of engineering, deployment and customer support teams provides local expertise across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
TLD Robotics believes such experience has shaped not only the company’s technology, but also its understanding of how autonomy is successfully deployed, integrated and supported in live operational environments.
The post-acquisition company’s mission will be to develop fully driverless ground support equipment (GSE) vehicles and fleet management technology for airport and industrial operations. Its autonomous tow tractors and cargo-handling vehicles are engineered to move materials across complex operational routes, indoors and outdoors.
Led by Richard Reno as chief executive officer, TLD Robotics operates under the Alvest Group, and brings together capabilities that previously existed across EasyMile and TLD, and were deployed commercially via the TractEasy joint venture.
The company’s vehicles operate at more than 35 active sites across over 10 countries in four continents, and are said to have completed more than 50,000 fully autonomous missions. Just over 35 of these have been operations, 15 in airports and 20 in industrial. Many of these sites now run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring continuous operations.
The launch follows almost a decade of collaboration between TLD and EasyMile. Together, the firms say they saw an opportunity to advance beyond basic vehicle automation to fundamentally change how baggage, cargo and materials move across airports and industrial facilities.
“When TLD and EasyMile began working together in 2017, autonomous GSE was still seen as a future concept,” said Reno. “We saw the opportunity in structured environments like airports and logistics hubs early, and have turned that vision into a proven business.
“Since creating TractEasy three years ago, we have scaled tenfold. With TLD Robotics bringing the same vehicles, teams and proven deployment record under one name, backed by a strong industrial base, we now have the platform and ambition to scale another 10x over the coming years.”
The new post-merger unified structure is designed to offer customers a dedicated partner that develops both the vehicles and software as one to plan, build, deploy and scale autonomous operations across airports and industrial sites worldwide.
Among the key features and capabilities that the merged company will offer are supervision software; on-board software; purpose-built vehicle platforms; fleet and operation management; industrial manufacturing and service capabilities; and integrated R&D.
With its fleet tripling every year, TLD Robotics believes it is now more than a year ahead of previous projections, demonstrating the market’s accelerating shift toward autonomous technology.
“Automation is the future of our business,” said Valentin Schmitt, president and CEO of Alvest. “Every operator we work with faces the same pressures: safety, labour availability, cost and decarbonisation. Autonomy addresses them all and is a natural extension of our Leaner & Greener strategy … Our customers are not buying a pilot; they are investing in decades of operations.”
