There are only 11 days left until IMTS 2016 kicks off in Chicago.
Here are just a few of the automation solutions you can expect to see on the show floor.
Collaborative Robots by ABB
ABB will feature more than a dozen innovative robotic demos at the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), at booth N-6251 on September 12-17 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
As manufacturing moves from mass production to mass customization, the flexibility to efficiently change and adapt production becomes critical. This requires increased collaboration between people and robots, between islands of automation and even between production sites. It also demands simplification to reduce programming time and provide intuitive human-machine interfaces, which allow manufacturers to seamlessly accommodate numerous products on a single system.
Digitalization ties it all together, where actionable information drives better decisions and helps manufacturers unlock the benefits of ABB’s concept of the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP), increasing productivity, flexibility and efficiency along the manufacturing value chain.
Highlights of ABB’s IMTS 2016 booth include:
YuMi: No barriers, no cages, no zones - YuMi is designed to work very closely with humans in a wide variety of small parts assembly and handling applications. The booth will feature two separate YuMi demos:
- A vision-enabled, small parts assembly application, with the ABB FlexFeeder, an ultra-compact flexible parts feeding system designed for small parts assembly;
- An interactive, hands-on demo allowing attendees to program YuMi using ABB’s easy-to-use, lead-through programming technology.
Robotic Machine Tending: Cutting-edge automation technologies designed to optimize machine tool efficiency and increase manufacturing productivity. With the recent acquisition of SVIA, the featured products include new additions to the ABB machine tending automation portfolio. The systems are quick and easy to install, feature a friendly human/ machine interface and are suited for the full variety of machining applications and industries.
IRB 1200 Foundry Plus 2: Foundry robots have long contributed to the productivity and speed of heavy-duty metal casting and automotive applications and are now becoming increasingly important in consumer electronics applications to cast light weight metals. ABB’s new IRB 1200 Foundry Plus 2 is a compact robot that can increase flexibility and reduce cycle times for precision casting processes such as smart phone cases and other electrical components.
Programming: RobotStudio, ABB’s industry leading software tool for programming, configuration and virtual commissioning, designed to maximize the productivity and greatly simplify the user interface of ABB robotic systems across all applications. The demo highlights the RobotStudio interface with an all-in-one touch PC.
For more information, visit ABB at IMTS at booth N-6251 or visit www.abb.com.
New Vertical Lift from Modula
Modula will present the latest version of the company's most successful product - the Modula Lift - during the IMTS 2016 in Chicago's McCormick Place from September 12th to 17th at booth E-4328.
The new Modula OnePick combines the vertical lift module's technology with a sophisticated automated system for the picking and replenishment of a single product at the time, directly from the bay, reducing to zero the error margin and guaranteeing the highest level of safety.
The OnePick allows products to be picked and replenished in a fully automated way in combination with delivery and takeaway conveyor, via the introduction of an innovative secure delivery interface window, which guarantees greater accuracy and precision.
At the operators request the OnePick retrieves the selected item and places it in a retrieval location in the secure delivery window. The unit’s design ensures that when the door opens automatically, the operator has access to that requested item. With this feature, inventory is always safe and under control.
Visitors at the IMTS will have the opportunity to see up close how Modula’s newest addition raises the bar in the industry by offering two technologies combined in one unique product.
The OnePick’s added customization grants users the option of switching operation modes from standard Vertical Lift with access to SKUs from a full tray, to a restricted access single pick device. This offers users the advantages of two systems combined into the same dynamic machine. In addition, the versatile nature of the OnePick makes it stand out as it features the flexibility of being integrated into a fully automated line and at the same time serve alongside human operators.
Modula’s OnePick’s production will start at the end of this year in both Modula’s factories in Italy and USA.
The new “Modula OnePick” vertical lift module will be premiered in North America at Chicago's IMTS 2016 this coming September at booth E–4328. For more information, visit www.modula.us.
Compact Automation Solution from Liebherr
Liebherr’s Rotary Loading System (RLS), on display in Liebherr’s booth N-6930 at IMTS, offers cost-effective entry into high-efficiency production with one or two machining centers – promoting machine utilization of more than 90 percent, according to the company.
The system is designed for workpiece weights of up to 800kg (RLS 800) or 1,500kg (RLS 1500) and dimensions up to 1,300mm.
“Using the RLS to extend a machine’s running time makes investing in an additional machine completely unnecessary in certain cases,” said a Liebherr spokesman. This solution is more effective than marginal increases in productivity that could result, for example, from optimizing CNC programs or the tools of machines that are manually fed or partly automated. One or two machining centers can be docked to the system.
For batch size 1 and above, the RLS provides considerable efficiency potential. The operator can use the machine’s running time to perform other production tasks; set-up costs thus don’t enter into the machine costs/hour equation.
Optimum machine utilization and reduced staffing requirements result in decreased unit costs of up to 20 percent, so the investment can pay for itself in less than two years. Moreover, the system improves delivery capability and facilitates rapid, flexible responses to changes in customer demand.
The RLS is a cost-effective entry-level solution for users with very small batch sizes (batch size 1 and above) or small batch manufacturers, commonly manufacturers with 20 to 30 employees, or tool- and die-makers, who manufacture individual components with very long running and set-up times, as well as very substantial cutting capacity.
The integration of an automation system facilitates higher machine tool productivity as well as streamlined management of equipment and workpieces by utilizing machines effectively and keeping distances short.
“Small-batch manufacturers are driven by one key issue: how to decouple the work tasks of operating personnel from machine operation times,” said the Liebherr spokesman. “Decoupling a machine’s set-up and operation from the cycle time required for machining a workpiece offers major potential for increasing utilization and reducing unit costs in the long term.”
Long set-up times, especially for small batches, considerably reduce productivity and are especially costly if the employee needs more time to set up than the machine needs for machining. It is here that compact automation systems can be effective.
For more information, visit Liebherr at IMTS at booth N-6930 or www.liebherr.com