ROBOTS AND AUTOMATION | TECHNOLOGY


Covid-19 stimulates greater use of robots


Knowing that productivity can never be sacrificed even during a pandemic, many injection moulders have invested in robots and their cobot cousins.Peter Mapleston reports on developments


“Automation is getting off the starting blocks to considerably influence today’s working environ- ment.” So says Statista in a new report on the global robotics market and application areas. “Smart factories are more than visions for the future.” Recent events, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the China-United States trade dispute have shaped the evolution of the robotics landscape, it notes. Smart factories are bringing more flexible


production, optimised logistics, customer-focused solutions, intelligent use of data, and resource savings. Statista also points to numerous industry experts forecasting a future with increasing collabo- ration of humans and robots – the cobots trend. “As with most disruptions, the pandemic has amplified the focus on productivity and forced


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injection moulding decision makers to reconsider how automation and digitalised technologies can facilitate working smarter,” says Nigel Flowers, UK Managing Director of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, which like many injection moulding machine makers also offers automation. At Fanuc America, Executive Sales Manager


James Cooper, says: “Injection moulders experi- enced the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic in many of the same ways as other manufacturers. Some saw a significant increase in production volumes in order to support manufacturing products that address the needs of the pandemic, such as respirators and ventilators. Many injection moulders pivoted quickly to respond to this demand, and robotics played a key role to allow these injection moulders to operate with the


April 2021 | INJECTION WORLD 15


IMAGE: MESSE DUSSELDORF


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