With rising international wages and increasing transportation costs forcing companies to reconsider the merits of maintaining production facilities overseas, the groundwork has been laid for the offshoring of US manufacturing. An important component of the equation is the newer generation of robots, and the environment in which this shift will occur reflects new economic realities.
Typically, a gantry-type (also known as Cartesian, linear or transverse) top-mounted three-axis robot is used to demould injection moulded parts. Pick-and-place automation is commonly used to demould injection moulded parts. According to Fanuc Robotics programme manager for the plastics industry, Joseph Portelli, the demand for part orientation capability is increasing. However, today’s moulders are looking
KUKA Robotics will be bringing its leading educational simulation and software technologies to the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) CareerTech VISION 2022 conference in Las Vegas. Visitors to booth 327 will be able to experience KUKA’s ready2_educate mobile training cell, which offers a gateway to the world of robotics. ready2_edcucate is a modular
The global move to electric cars presents enormous prospects for Japanese industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc. Compared to petrol cars, electric vehicles are quite different in design: they need fewer parts, for example. However, Yamaguchi pointed out that production lines for electric vehicles employ more robots than those for petrol vehicles. Recently, most of our major
The PL800 is a versatile and powerful 4-axis robot that offers high performance in palletising applications and many other logistics applications for automation and end-of-line packaging options. The North and South American markets for the Yaskawa Motoman PL800 palletising robot are now open. The robot has been created for “palletising applications, layer picking and other
The smallest industrial robot ever made by ABB has been unveiled, opening up new opportunities for the creation of faster, more adaptable and higher quality smart wearable devices. Thanks to its small size, extraordinary payload and unmatched precision, the new IRB 1010 offers electronics manufacturers the ability to automate the manufacture of products such as
Two automated cells from KUKA Robotics were brought to The Vision Show, where they showcased automated mobility with one being used for automated mobility and the other for container collection. The public was able to see a transportable robotic solution created in collaboration with the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers. They will also be able to
ABB‘s latest collaborative robot, the GoFaTM 15000, will be on live display in a cell with two other cobots, performing both an arc welding application and a collaborative part picking application. By combining the cobot’s simple programming, welding software and 3D machine vision, we can create a welding island tailored to the demands of those
Numerous statistics suggest that the majority of companies in a variety of sectors intend to increase their use of automation and robots. Seventy per cent of US companies are planning changes to their operations, with 37% planning to bring production back in-house and 33% looking to offshore and move their operations closer to home. ABB’s
To help companies address the welder shortage, ABB has introduced OmniVance FlexArc Compact, a new, more compact welding system with greater flexibility, simplicity and better integration. This revolutionary system helps fabricators maximise space because it occupies the smallest footprint in its class. It also allows flexibility because it can accommodate up to four additional robots
