Page 40 - Industrial Technology July 2021

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

CONNECTED ROBOTICS

SMART FACTORIES

WE TALK TO SIMON JENKINS, DIVISIONAL MANAGER FOR ROBOTICS AT STÄUBLI UK, ABOUT CONNECTED
ROBOTIC MANUFACTURING, AND WHETHER THIS IS A VISION OF THE FUTURE OR A REALITY TODAY

ver since robots started to become a mainstream
part of manufacturing, the concept of fully
automated flexible production has been the
Eultimate objective for businesses across a wide
range of sectors. Moving towards this goal has been an
iterative process with ongoing developments in hardware,
software and connectivity making it possible to continually
enhance the flexibility and capability of automated
manufacturing.
With the notable exception of the automotive sector,
many early robot installations generally operated as stand-
alone systems, performing repetitive tasks on the same
parts with little or no links to any other part of the
manufacturing process.
Now, as Industry 4.0 firmly establishes itself as the
template for a more automated future, factories are
increasingly digitising their processes and as a result all
aspects of the business from manufacturing to
warehousing, distribution and sales are becoming
networked and able to communicate in real time. This
allows robots and many other manufacturing technologies
to operate with much greater degrees of flexibility,
connectivity and autonomy making it possible to consider
automating manufacturing and assembly processes from
beginning to end.
The capability of today’s technology to achieve end to
end automated manufacturing was clearly demonstrated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) operated together to perform final perfect example of what can actually be achieved today.
by Stäubli during its recent Robotics Innovation Days. assembly operations on an E-Bike. Stäubli’s Simon We have available a powerful and comprehensive range of
Here the company’s four product families – industrial Jenkins explains: “Although shown as part of our 6 axis and SCARA robots, AGV and autonomous fork-lift
robots, collaborative robots, mobile robots and Automated Innovation days, the E-Bike assembly operations are a technologies which can deliver parts to the line from the
warehouse, load them to the appropriate workstations,
perform the various assembly tasks, either fully
automatically or in collaboration with humans and return
finished components to dispatch if required.”
The agile approach to manufacturing which can be
achieved through Industry 4.0 connectivity also makes it
possible to fulfil the growing trend across a number of
sectors for customised or personalised products. This
requires processes and technologies to respond
dynamically to produce individual items to customer
specifications. Robots play a key role in achieving these
objectives through their ability to communicate with each
other and quickly adapt to changing production
requirements whilst maintaining the highest levels of
quality and productivity.
Jenkins concludes: “What was once thought of as the
‘factory of the future’ has become the factory of today, and
the new factory of the future will capitalise on the ever
increasing capabilities of robots in all of their forms.
Mobile robots and continued growth in areas of human-
robot collaboration, together with ever more capable
industrial robots, will be at the heart of the next generation
production lines.”
MORE INFORMATION: www.staubli.com

40 INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • July 2021