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What Exactly Takes Place During a Car Safety Inspection?

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If you’re a licensed driver, you probably know you need to get someone knowledgeable to inspect your car every year.

This annual inspection doesn’t cost much, but it can reveal whether you’re keeping your vehicle in good working order. However, you might not know precisely what happens during one of these inspections.

If you know about the importance of annual car safety inspections, that’s great, but you should also know what goes into one. We will talk about that in the following article. [Read more…] about What Exactly Takes Place During a Car Safety Inspection?

Universal Robots reports strong end to 2023

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Universal Robots, the Danish collaborative robot company, has reported Q4 revenue of $103 million, up 21 percent on Q4 2022. The quarter was the company’s largest revenue quarter to date. 2023 annual revenue was $304 million, down 7 percent on 2022.

The company’s president, Kim Povlsen, says: “2023 was characterized by a difficult economic and business environment for many of our core customers with global industrial activity slowing in the first half of the year.

“Nevertheless, we saw growth in our focus accounts and key segments, including palletizing, and in our strategically important OEM channel. We ended the year strong and enter 2024 with a great foundation for further growth.” [Read more…] about Universal Robots reports strong end to 2023

Industrial robot components market set for higher growth over next decade

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The global industrial robot components market is expected to be valued at $6.3 billion in 2023 and it is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.9 percent to reach $23.2 billion by the end of 2033.

Over the 2018-2022 historical period, the global industrial robot component market registered a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 percent, according to Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the market is projected to exhibit growth at 13.9 percent compound annual growth rate between 2023 and 2033.

Market share analysis of industrial robot components based on application and region is provided in a nutshell in the above image. Under the application segment, the robot arm/manipulator sub-segment dominates with a 29.1 percent market share in 2023. [Read more…] about Industrial robot components market set for higher growth over next decade

Universal Robots reports record annual revenue of $326 million

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Universal Robots, the Danish collaborative robot company, has reported Q4 revenue of $85 million, bringing 2022 annual revenue to $326 million, up 5 percent on 2021.

On a constant currency basis, growth over the year was 12 percent.

Kim Andreasen, Universal Robots’ chief financial officer, says: “We are proud to have continued to grow our business despite facing a difficult macroeconomic environment in 2022. [Read more…] about Universal Robots reports record annual revenue of $326 million

Worldwide installations of automated guided vehicles at seaports to exceed 150,000

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Seaports globally have increased their automation solutions or kickstarted automation initiatives to mitigate port congestion.

Equipment like gantries, automated port gates, stacking cranes, and horizontal transport solutions, such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that transport containers and loads to and from ships, have been the most productivity-enhancing solutions in seaports.

According to ABI Research, a global technology intelligence firm, worldwide AGV deployments in seaports will have a compound annual growth rate of over 26 percent from 2022 to 2027 and exceed 150,000 global deployments by 2027. [Read more…] about Worldwide installations of automated guided vehicles at seaports to exceed 150,000

Intralogistics market forecast to grow at 15 percent a year

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The global intralogistics market is expected to surge at a compound annual growth rate of 15.5 percent from 2020 to 2030, according to FactMR.com., which would provide more opportunities for automated guided vehicle and autonomous mobile robot suppliers. 

The market burgeoned at a spritely rate of 14.3 percent over the last five years owing to transcendent demand for increased productivity and efficiency across industries, globally.

Moreover, commencement of industry 4.0 has comprehensively compelled industry verticals to go digital with their supply chain networks. [Read more…] about Intralogistics market forecast to grow at 15 percent a year

Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers

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Sometimes described as “the workhorse of industrial automation”, a programmable logic controller, or PLC, is a computing device that is specially designed for use in an industrial operation.

A PLC can take many shapes and sizes, but in most instances it does not look like a conventional desktop computer like the ones you find in offices or in homes – a PLC has no display screen, no hard drive, and no keyboard.

PLCs started out in the automotive manufacturing trade, although they can now be found in almost all sectors, where they tend to replace relays.

Relays are devices that essentially turn machines on and off, and are said to be time-consuming and complex to use compared to PLCs. Relays also require more operational downtime when they need to be reconfigured. PLCs are estimated by one research company to reduce downtime from 20 percent to about 4 percent. [Read more…] about Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers

Plus Automation wins its first robotics-as-a-service contract

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Logistics and supply chain technology startup Plus Automation has won its first robotics-as-a-service contract with Jun Co, a Japanese company with diversified interests including fashion, food and fitness products. 

The company was jointly established in June 2019 and is 60 per cent owned by Mitsui, a Japanese conglomerate, and GLP Japan, said to be the largest Japanese logistics company but also has real estate and other interests.

The contract between Plus and Jun consists of a standard annual subscription together with the option to add robots when cargo volumes increase, making it “a highly convenient service package”, says Plus. [Read more…] about Plus Automation wins its first robotics-as-a-service contract

B&R showcases technology for mass customisation

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Industrial automation company B&R has been showcasing its technology for mass customisation, or “batch of one”.

The company exhibited its SuperTrak process at the metal industry event EMO, held recently in Germany.

B&R says the metal industry is not immune to the global trend away from bulk annual orders toward small-batch customer orders with short lead times. [Read more…] about B&R showcases technology for mass customisation

Škoda opens new $200 million paint shop featuring 66 robots

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Škoda Auto has opened a new automotive paint shop at its main plant in Mladá Boleslav, in the Czech Republic, featuring 66 industrial robots configured for applying the paint.

Up to 168,000 car bodies will be coated with paint there each year, taking the plant’s total annual painting capacity up to 812,000 vehicles.

Škoda Auto has invested €214.5 million in the new building, creating more than 650 new jobs. (See infographic below.) [Read more…] about Škoda opens new $200 million paint shop featuring 66 robots