North America’s robotics trade group, Robotic Industries Association (RIA), is hosting two major events in Pittsburgh next week. The 27th National Robot Safety Conference will be held October 12-14, followed by the International Collaborative Robots Workshop on October 15. Both events will be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pa. The National Robot Safety Conference is a leading event for industrial robot safety and compliance. It provides in-depth coverage of the latest ANSI/RIA R15.06 -2012 Robot Safety Standard and risk assessment issues as well as functional safety, safety circuit design and a look at various applications. New…
Jill Bickley (Michigan State), Paige Topole (CalPoly) and Kristine Roupas (Virginia Tech) made up the winning team in this year’s Amazing Packaging Race at Pack Expo Las Vegas. The contest, sponsored by ASCO Numatics and organized by show owner and producer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, sent packaging students throughout the Pack Expo Las Vegas and Pharma Expo 2015 show floors. “The Amazing Packaging Race gives packaging students hands-on experience and introduces them to industry leaders,” said Maria Ferrante, vice president of education and workforce development, PMMI. “It’s a fun competition that’s also a great learning experience.”…
In celebration of National Manufacturing Day on October 2nd, ABB Robotics hosted a tour of its Auburn Hills facility for high school students from Oakland County interested in manufacturing and the skilled trades. The students learned about robot and robot system manufacturing firsthand at ABB’s North American robotics headquarters. The event is intended to celebrate modern manufacturing and encourage careers in the industrial sector. ABB is one of 28 Oakland County manufacturers who will be hosting tours, giving the 400 participating students the opportunity to see the operations of businesses in industries that closely match their interests. Over the course…
A leader in custom manufacturing for outdoor power equipment, Standby Screw Machine Products is a third-generation company founded in 1939. To reduce the costs of repetitive tasks, the company deployed collaborative robots that are still flexible enough to quickly adapt to new parts and products. In Standby Screw’s Berea, Ohio, factory, a robotic cell produces more than one million parts per year, cleaning and packaging cylindrical gears used in lawnmowers. One collaborative, two-armed robot is fed parts from a traditional caged industrial robot, and, using both arms, moves the parts into a slot to clean the machine oil before placing…
The Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America, R/X Automation Solutions (RXAS) and Universal Robotics have formed a strategic partnership to deliver robotic pharmacy order fulfillment systems. The robotic system will provide complete verification of National Drug Code bar codes and validation of robotically placed patient labels for pharmacy unit-of-use items. The system will automatically handle an extensive variety of items from bottles to boxes and odd-shaped products. ROI is projected to be less than one year. “Offering automated systems to the mail order, central fill and specialty pharmacy industries, as well as drug manufacturers and drug repackagers, is a natural…
QComp Technologies recently celebrated its 25th year anniversary as a leading automation integrator in the U.S., specializing in material handling automation solutions. Founded in 1990 by Tom Doyle, the company initially focused on applications in the paper and metals industries but over the years has expanded its reach into the flat glass, solar, food, consumer goods and manufacturing industries. “Thanks to our team of dedicated automation experts, we have designed and installed hundreds of robot-based automation systems throughout the United States and are known for our customer-focused approach, superior engineering capabilities, strategic partnerships, vast industry knowledge and comprehensive support systems,“…
As Manufacturing Day approaches, the International Society of Automation (ISA) and its affiliate association, the Automation Federation, are celebrating the importance of manufacturing to the world’s economic health and future. Supported by leading manufacturers and other industry supporters, Manufacturing Day on October 2 is designed to amplify the voice of individual companies and coordinate a collective movement toward greater understanding and solutions to key manufacturing challenges. According to the ISA, perhaps the most pressing challenge facing manufacturers in the US is the growing skills gap. Experts project that over the next 10 years nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will be…
North American sales of machine vision systems and components grew 16% to $1.2 billion in the first half of 2015, the market’s highest first half total in history, according to new statistics issued by AIA, the industry’s trade group. Total machine vision sales include sales of machine vision systems and components. The machine vision systems category saw a year over year increase of 18% to $1.0 billion in the first half of 2015. Machine vision systems include smart cameras and application specific machine vision (ASMV) systems. Smart cameras expanded by 13% to $151.3 million, while ASMV systems increased 19% to…
