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What do robots mean for manufacturers?

 

The installation of industrial robots is reducing human intervention in the production process, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing with improved quality and increased production capacity. A plethora of innovative technologies are incorporated to ensure highly precise, fast processing that not only expands the range of production applications but also contributes to the manufacturing of reliable, high-quality products that provide optimum performance. New equipment such as industrial robots can be added to the production facilities to enhance the efficiency of the process control.

DDC, the leader in high-reliability data networking, power control, and motion control technology for the aerospace and defense industry, offers field-proven integrated circuit and subsystem solutions for high precision industrial applications. While lowering production costs is an important consideration and overall goal, it should not be the overriding factor in the decision to automate manufacturing processes, as the introduction of automated production machinery will at first be expensive, and may require equipment or process tuning for maximum productivity. Provides aerospace products and services, sensing and security technologies, control, turbochargers, automotive products, electronic and advanced materials, specialty chemicals, process technology for refining and petrochemicals, and energy-efficient products and solutions. In recent years, amid increasingly intense global competition in the manufacturing industry, there has been a growing demand for more rapid product development and market introduction, quality improvements and shorter lead times in order to quickly respond to the rapidly changing market environments and management environments through the introduction of new technologies and collaborations between companies.

An innovative way to lower costs is by embracing industrial automation.  One of the easiest ways to start is by investing in automated rotary motion systems, primarily high torque rotary actuators.  www.intellidrives.com is a great place to learn more about these automated systems.

The idea is to tightly integrate master and sensor data, as well as measurement values, into customer business, logistics, and production processes and develop new digital services focused on predictive maintenance and predictive quality. An automated manufacturing system (AMS) combines computer programming and hardware equipment to complete manufacturing processes with minimal human intervention. Fully automated processes brought improved efficiency, increased production of high-quality output, and reduced labor and production costs. The nine pillars of technological advancement (see below) that comprise the foundation of Industry 4.0. are already used in manufacturing, but with the increasing domination of Industry 4.0, they will transform production: Isolated, optimized cells will come together as a fully integrated, automated, and optimized production flow, leading to greater efficiencies and changing traditional production relationships among suppliers, producers, and customers — as well as between human machine,” according to the Boston Consulting Group.

Humans are still a key aspect of the modern automated manufacturing environment, adding their flexibility to adjust processes on the fly.” They need to cooperate with robots, which are no longer confined in cages but share the workspace with their human coworkers. Precision robotic control combined with automated production line data monitoring reduces process variation and virtually eliminates assembly errors. A leading player in the global market, these products offer shorter processing times, impressive energy savings and astounding surface finish quality.

Industrial production is increasing the use of robot assembly for lean manufacturing processes. Future products and processes have to be sustainable, with built-in reuse, remanufacturing and recycling for products reaching the end of their lives (The Government Office for Science, London 2013 Foresight. Industrial production is the backbone of many of the world’s economies, covering both manufacturings in factories, production in process plants, and production research.

On the basis of the control and safety system, it is categorized into the distributed control system (DCS), supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), manufacturing execution system (MES), safety instrumented system (SIS), programmable logic controllers (PLC), and human-machine interface (HMI). Since many industrial processes have timescales easily addressed by millisecond response times, modern (fast, small, reliable) electronics greatly facilitate building reliable controllers, and performance could be traded off for reliability. Industry 4.0 works with the IIoT and software/hardware to connect in a way that (through communication technologies) add enhancements and improve manufacturing processes. Some of the larger processes include electrical power generation, oil refining, chemicals, steel mills, plastics, cement plants, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper mills, automobile and truck assembly, aircraft production, glass manufacturing, natural gas separation plants, food and beverage processing, canning and bottling and manufacture of various kinds of parts.

All non-time-critical communications fall into this class, including the exchange of configuration data, parameterization and diagnostics from distributed devices, an update of reference set points for process control, and so on. These operations are mainly intended for configuration and monitoring of the industrial application, and feedback actions are usually not required. The roll-out of 5G wireless technology is expected to make an outsized impact on automation and control applications, with its strong focus on machine-type communications and support for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). They include end-to-end traceability of goods and transactions in a supply chain to reduce delays and automate recordkeeping; lot lineage and provenance for aiding in regulatory compliance, counterfeiting and targeted recalls; intelligent cold chain for tracking and ensuring quality for refrigerated products in pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries; and warranty and usage tracking to eliminate paper-based processes for high-value assets.

 

 

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