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Small Manufacturing Leaders Look for Long-Term Strategies: Connected Factories Driving Demand for Robotics Engineers

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By Thomas R. Cutler

A recent Gartner survey showed 57 percent of manufacturing leaders feel their organization lacks skilled workers to support smart manufacturing digitization plans. Most agreed a long-term strategy is necessary to develop the connected factory worker.

“Our survey revealed that manufacturers are currently going through a difficult phase in their digitization journey toward smart manufacturing,” said Simon Jacobson, vice president analyst, with the Gartner Supply Chain practice.

“They accept that changing from a break-fix mentality and culture to a data-driven workforce is a must. However, intuition, efficiency and engagement cannot be sacrificed. [Read more…] about Small Manufacturing Leaders Look for Long-Term Strategies: Connected Factories Driving Demand for Robotics Engineers

Plex launches new quality management system for manufacturers

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Plex Systems, a provider of cloud-delivered smart manufacturing solutions, has launched its Quality Management System (QMS) as a standalone offering.

Plex QMS helps manufacturers adhere to industry compliance, regulations, and standards such as FMEA, PPAP, SQF, and BRC to avoid costly product recalls.

Nathan Pieri, global vice president of product strategy and execution at Plex Systems, says: “Plex has offered digital quality management as in integral part of the Smart Manufacturing Platform since our inception. [Read more…] about Plex launches new quality management system for manufacturers

Opinion: Collaborative robots enable effective high-mix, low-volume production

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Oliver Giertz, product manager for servo/motion and robotics for the EMEA region at Mitsubishi Electric, factory automation, explains how collaborative robots are helping manufacturers to increase flexibility, boost quality, and drive down operational costs.

With increased competition, often on a global scale, manufacturers need to differentiate themselves by tailoring products more closely to customer demand.

This, of course, carries with it an implicit reduction in batch sizes and has seen the rise of high-mix, low-volume production.

Collaborative robots, or cobots, can enable manufacturers to effectively meet individual customer requirements with greater product variety in smaller batches. [Read more…] about Opinion: Collaborative robots enable effective high-mix, low-volume production

Universal Robots handpicks systems integrators to implement ActiNav next-generation machine loading

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To better address demand for its popular ActiNav flexible machine loading system, Universal Robots has “handpicked” a number of integrators as ActiNav solutions providers.

Today, solutions for unstructured picking and placing of parts into machines are solely focused on the vision aspect, often requiring additional programming to bridge the gap from “pick” to “place” – especially if the “place” is not just dropping into a box but accurately inserting parts into fixtures for further processing.

Universal says its ActiNav product changes all that, combining real-time autonomous motion control, Universal Robots cobots, vision and sensor systems in one seamless Application Kit that solves the random bin picking challenge in machine tending applications. [Read more…] about Universal Robots handpicks systems integrators to implement ActiNav next-generation machine loading

Mitsubishi Electric Automation unveils new LoadMate robot work cell

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Mitsubishi Electric Automation has launched its LoadMate Plus engineered solution, a mobile robot cell.

The machinery is targeted towards manufacturers in CNC machine tool applications who find themselves facing a labor crunch, while needing to be more efficient and improve their production.

It creates a path to introduce automation to high-mix, low-volume facilities and is designed with mobility and flexibility in mind. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric Automation unveils new LoadMate robot work cell

Celanese suggests replacing metal parts in robots with polymers

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Choosing materials is one of the most important decisions when designing and building a machine such as a robot, particularly one that moves around, like an autonomous warehouse robot or an automated guided vehicle. 

Most of the machines this website features in its articles and advertising use metals for the vast majority of their components. Even the outer casing on most industrial robots tends to be a metal such as iron or steel.

However, according to an expert at Celanese, one of the largest materials companies in the world, the vast majority of components and parts that are currently made out of metal can actually be replaced with polymers or thermoplastics. [Read more…] about Celanese suggests replacing metal parts in robots with polymers

Fuzzy Logic Robotics launches platform that enables users to go from CAD to control with one software

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Startup company Fuzzy Logic Robotics has launched a new, “easy-to-use and universal” software platform which it says “reduces robotics programming costs by 10”.

The first release of Fuzzy Studio, during Hannover Messe Industry 2021, is described as a “game changer” for unlocking flexible robotic production.

Fuzzy Logic Robotics highlights some of the features available in Fuzzy Studio as follows:

  • Drag and drop CAD parts into the 3D digital twin, automatically generate complex trajectories and deploy to the production robot in one click – all with one universal software platform.
  • From offline simulation to real-time control, Fuzzy Studio removes the gap between simulation and reality to reduce downtime and streamline the robotics workflow.
  • Designed from the ground up to drastically reduce the need of robotics expertise thanks to no-code real-time digital twin technology.
  • With two clicks, swap between any make and model of robot to find the right one for the application – no need to switch softwares and redo time-intensive design work.
  • Handles even the most complex robotic applications and accessible to any size of company.

[Read more…] about Fuzzy Logic Robotics launches platform that enables users to go from CAD to control with one software

GE Digital upgrades its industrial control offerings for ‘modern’ workers

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GE Digital has unveiled enhancements to its Cimplicity and Tracker software that “provide critical decision support for operators to make them more efficient”, says the company.

Cimplicity is GE’s name for its human-machine interface and supervisory control and data acquisition (HMI/SCADA) solution, which provides client-server visualization to monitor and control operations.

Tracker, part of GE Digital’s Proficy Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) offering, automates routing and sequencing to accelerate time to market, reduce warranty and recall exposure, and support Lean operations and building right the first time. [Read more…] about GE Digital upgrades its industrial control offerings for ‘modern’ workers

More flexible gear machining for industrial robots

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Today’s industrial robots must fit into smaller spaces, so as much “manufacturing real estate” as possible is dedicated to production. This places pressure on manufacturers to machine smaller, tighter components for these machines. Here, Harish Maniyoor, global product manager for automotive at the machine tooling specialist Sandvik Coromant explains why power skiving is the answer.

The overall number of industrial robots operating in factories worldwide grew to 2.7 million in 2019, according to the 2020 World Robotics Report by the International Federation of Robotics. 

This was a 12 percent increase from 2018 and a historic high. Robots factor into a range of industries, from automotive and aerospace to the food industry and pharmaceuticals – yet all of these sectors have common requirements.

Not only must these robots be smaller, but also lighter with reduced inertia and able to perform more exact movements with optimal speed and efficiency. The challenge is on for manufacturers to machine smaller and more precisely engineered-components – like internal gear reducers – with more flexible designs. [Read more…] about More flexible gear machining for industrial robots

5 Ways Car Manufacturers Have Evolved Since the Pandemic

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The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly changed a lot of things, including how people view transportation.

Now, many folks realize the importance of having a car, a secure means of transport that you do not need to share with anybody.

A 2020 survey by Deloitte found that 74 percent of Americans support the idea of owning a car, with 56 percent of public transportation users stating that they intended to stop using public transport during the pandemic. [Read more…] about 5 Ways Car Manufacturers Have Evolved Since the Pandemic