NEWS SAFETY TOOLS Megatrends accelerate cobot adoption A M
itsubishi Electric’s new MELSERVO MR-J5 series of TSN-compatible servo
drives meet today’s exacting requirements for precision, dynamics and multi-axis synchronisation in applications such as; food and beverage, life sciences and printing/converting production. The MR-J5 series also integrates a full suite of safety functions as standard and embedded predictive maintenance functions give users the tools they need to increase machine productivity and availability. End users and machine
builders can drive up the performance of their production lines and systems thanks to a frequency response of 3.5kHz and a communication cycle time of 31.25µs. Further, with the associated MELSEC motion module, users can synchronise up to 256 axes per module. The total system can support three motion modules allowing systems of up to 768 axes to be controlled. This increased performance
does not come at the cost of more complex set-up. No tuning experience is required, with a quick-tuning function generating all of the gain values automatically within approximately 0.3 seconds. The machine is then ready to run as soon as the servo is enabled. Other improvements include
the integration of CC-Link IE TSN (time sensitive network) technology with 1Gbps transmission speeds, assuring synchronisation across all connected devices. Network protocols such as EtherCAT are also offered as standard.
gb3a.mitsubishielectric.com/ fa/en/solutions
BB is expanding its collaborative robot (cobot) portfolio with the new GoFa and SWIFTI cobot
families, offering higher payloads and speeds, to complement YuMi and Single Arm YuMi in ABB’s cobot line-up. These stronger, faster and more capable cobots will accelerate the company’s expansion in high-growth segments including electronics, healthcare, consumer goods, logistics and food and beverage, amongst others. GoFa and SWIFTI are intuitively designed so customers need not rely on in-house programming
specialists. This will unlock industries that have low levels of automation, with customers able to operate their cobot within minutes of installation, straight out of the box, with no specialised training. “Our new cobot portfolio is the most diverse on the market, offering the potential to transform
workplaces and help our customers achieve new levels of operational performance and growth,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation Business Area. “They are easy to use and configure and backed by our global network of on-call, on-line service experts to ensure that businesses of all sizes and new sectors of the economy, far beyond manufacturing, can embrace robots for the first time.” ABB’s cobot portfolio expansion is engineered to help existing and new robot users accelerate
automation amid four key mega-trends, including individualised consumers, labour shortages, digitalisation and uncertainty, that are transforming business and driving automation into new sectors. In a global survey1
of 1650 large and small businesses in Europe, the US and China, 84 percent of
businesses said they will introduce or increase the use of robotics and automation in the next decade, while 85 per cent said the pandemic had been “game changing” for their business and industry, with COVID-19 a catalyst for accelerating investment in automation. Nearly half of businesses (43 percent) said they were looking to robotics to help them improve workplace health and safety, 51 per-cent said robotics could enhance social distancing and more than one-third (36 percent) were considering using robotic automation to improve the quality of work for their employees. More immediately, 78 percent of company CEOs and Managing Directors said recruiting and retaining staff for repetitive and ergonomically challenging jobs is a challenge. Cobots are designed to operate in the presence of workers without the need for physical safety
measures such as fences and to be very easy to use and install. Users comfortable with operating a tablet or smartphone will be able to program and re-program the new cobots with ease, using ABB’s fast set-up tools.
1
www.abb.com ABB Industry Survey January 2021. Conducted by 3Gem Global Market Research & Insights, the ABB industry survey of 1650 CEO or
Managing Director decision-makers in large and small businesses in the US, China, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Sweden, included technology, retail, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, automotive, food & beverage, leisure, FMCG, and transportation & logistics executives. Conducted December 26, 2020 - January 19, 2021, 3Gem Research & Insights utilize industry-standard panel management systems and adhere to stringent quality control procedures; delivering double opt-in, GDPR-compliant consumer and B2B panels.
ifm electronic celebrates 40 years in the UK i
fm electronic, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of sensors and sensing systems, has achieved 40 years of sustained growth and success in the United Kingdom. The company’s UK operation was set up in March 1981 with just two employees and its first-year turnover was around £100,000. Today it
has a staff of 64 and an annual turnover in excess of £30 million, with ambitious plans for further growth in coming years.
“The key to our success in the UK over the last four decades is deceptively simple,” said Imtiaz Kabir, Managing Director of ifm electronic UK. “From day one, we have always nurtured close relationships with our customers to ensure that we understand their challenges and provide them not only with the right products to address those challenges, but also with expert technical advice and support. This approach, which is reflected in our current ‘close to you’ campaign, has worked exceptionally well for us and, we believe, equally well for our customers.”
“We’re looking forward to building on this success by finding even better ways of supporting and serving our customers and, of course, by continuing to grow. Our target is to reach a turnover of £50 million turnover by 2027 and, with some very exciting developments in the pipeline, we’re quietly confident that we’ll make it!” Kabir concluded.
www.ifm.com
“The original designer and manufacturer of coaxial valves with 60 years of experience”
Te
Ema : Emaill:
john.osborn@coaxvalves.co.uk Web:
www.co-ax.com
Tel: 01908 067583 We
High flow, high pressure, unique valve solutions for all standard and arduous Applications”.
6 MARCH 2021 | PROCESS & CONTROL
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