A large North American paperboard converting plant wanted to enhance its ability to produce mixed loads to send directly to retail locations. Amid SKU growth and increased demand, the company refurbished, relocated and expanded its existing robotic unitizing system to meet present and future needs. Installed seven years prior, the original five-aisle, robotic unitizing system used five Fanuc robots for centralized unitizing of caseloads. When the system was powered down before relocation, data reported that the robots had traveled up and down the rails the equivalent of 121,000 miles, averaging about 10 miles a day as they scanned, organized, separated…
Yaskawa and Clearpath have partnered to develop a mobile machine tending and material movement solution ideal for shop floor environments. This fully integrated solution will feature a Motoman MH12 robot equipped with end-of-arm tool and vision system, mounted on Clearpath’s OTTO 1500 self-driving vehicle. This project is currently under development and supported under the advanced research division of Clearpath. “Our partnership with Clearpath will provide industry with a robust, tightly integrated solution for moving robots to the work in a very flexible and dynamic way,” said Roger Christian, divisional leader, new product development at Yaskawa Motoman. “This autonomous modular solution…
The North American robotics market has set new records to begin 2016, according to Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the industry’s trade group. A total of 7,406 robots valued at approximately $402 million were ordered from North American companies during the first quarter of 2016. The number of units ordered in the first three months of 2016 is a new record among opening quarters, growing 7% over the same period in 2015. Order revenue, however, decreased by 8% in the first quarter. Robot shipments also set a new opening quarter record, with 7,125 robots valued at $448 million being shipped to…
Forty-six years after the first Earth Day, consumer awareness of the environment and their ensuing demand for sustainable products has prompted the processing and packaging industry to respond with sustainable initiatives in operations and packaging. The “Breaking Down Sustainable Packaging” infographic, produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, shows how the industry, particularly food and beverage, household and personal care, and healthcare packaging segments are adopting sustainable practices to meet the increased demand of consumers. “We’re seeing more green options in packaging — recyclable, reusable and degradable — as manufacturers reduce source material creating lighter primary and…
Automated Item Pick (AIP), Swisslog’s human-robot picking solution, was awarded the 2016 Industriepreis on the opening day of Hannover Messe. The motto of this year’s competition was “Success through Progress,” and AIP was chosen as the winner in the “Intralogistics & Production Management” category for its outstanding economic and societal benefits. The award was presented to Christian Baur, CEO of Swisslog’s warehouse and distribution solutions (WDS) division. Swisslog has developed robot-aided intralogistics concepts to meet the trend towards ever smaller batch sizes calling for reliable and efficient solutions in applications including e-commerce, pharmaceutical, spare-parts logistics and the supply of industrial…
Clearpath, a provider of self-driving vehicle technology and services, was named a Silver Winner for its OTTO 1500 self-driving vehicle by the Edison Awards. The award program celebrates 29 years of honoring the best in innovation and excellence in the development of new products and services. The announcement was made at an annual award gala on April 21st at The Capitale in New York City. “The OTTO self-driving vehicles leverage new technologies to enable factory operators with a more cost-effective, safe, and efficient method of moving materials in their facilities,” said Simon Drexler, director of industrial solutions at Clearpath. “We’re…
A recently-published report from DHL reveals 26 key trends that could impact the logistics industry in the next five to ten years. The new 2016 Logistics Trend Radar, the third in the pioneering series, introduces brand new trends, tracks the evolution of trends spotted in earlier editions and ones that have faded or become mainstream since the series started in 2013. “Predicting trends is notoriously challenging,” says Markus Kückelhaus, Vice President Innovation and Trend Research, DHL.“It is difficult to know ahead of time which trends will have long-term effect on businesses and which ones are simply parts of a short-lived…
There’s been a lot of discussion around our magazine, as well as across the industry, about the future of materials handling. Following my trip to Atlanta for Modex 2016 earlier this month, I had a few thoughts to add as fodder to the discussion. The future of materials handling is ….. Materials handling. Anyone walking the floor couldn’t help but be impressed by the thousands who traveled to Atlanta to see what the industry has to offer. From what MHI is saying, 2017 will be the biggest Promat ever. In that regard, there has been a lot of talk about…
Approximately 20,000 young people from around the world are projected to gather in St. Louis, Mo., 27-30 April, to participate in the 2016 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship. The annual championship—which celebrates excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), innovative thinking and teamwork—culminates months of regional qualifying competitions involving K-12 students across 39 countries into a final, high-tech spectator experience. The event features three separate robotics competition championships—the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship (grades 9-12); the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship (grades 7-12); and the FIRST LEGO League World Festival (grades 4-8)—as well as the…
Modex always delivers innovative new products, but at this year’s event, robotics captured much of the attention, from prominent mention in MHI’s industry report keynote, to new robotics vendors on the exhibit floor. Robots in distribution centers (DCs) aren’t new, but new vendors are coming on the scene, touting “mobile autonomous” technology, meaning that you don’t need to install special infrastructure on floors or ceilings for the robots to be able to navigate. One new example along these lines is IAM Robotics, which can pick from existing rack and shelves using onboard 3D vision technology, as written about in our…
Well, another great Modex materials handling/supply chain show is in the record books, and this year’s event was definitely worth attending and participating in. As I navigated my way among the exhibit booths on the expo floor every day, I was impressed at the level of innovation and technological advancements that each supplier brought to the show. From cutting-edge robotics to user-friendly software to state-of-the art storage equipment, exhibitors at this premier trade show clearly put their best feet forward when presenting themselves to the 25,000+ attendees. And speaking of attendees, many were on a mission to find the latest…
Products from Intelligrated, Fetch Robotics and RAM Mounts received Innovation Awards during the Industry Night celebration at Modex on Wednesday. The recipients of the 4th annual MHI Innovation Awards were among 95 total applicants narrowed to 12 finalists in three categories: Best New Innovation, Best Innovation of an Existing Product and – new this year – Best IT Innovation. Intelligrated won Best Innovation of an Existing Product for its Intellisort cross-belt sorter with dynamic discharge compensation, which uses an algorithm and vision system to determine the most accurate discharge trajectory based upon the product’s location on the belt, its dimensions,…
