SUPPLEMENT FEATURE ROBOTICS
WHY ROBOTS ARE THE BEGINNING OF THE UK’S JOURNEY INTO DIGITALISATION
With pressure mounting to increase productivity, will 2018 be the year that UK manufacturers begin to adopt robots en masse? As government calls for a ‘Global Britain’, we look at why robots could offer the best first step for a successful digital future
Advances in vision technology, force control and safety programming have opened up a great number of applications where robots can be used
he fundamental rules of competition are simple. To stay ahead of others, you need to be better, faster and cleverer at producing your product than everyone else. This means constantly finding new ways to adapt and embrace the best available techniques and technologies to make your goods. The more you can make and sell, the better your productivity will be. The UK Government’s long-awaited Industrial Strategy document shows that our manufacturing sector has a lot of ground to make up before it can compete on the global stage. With our output per hour 26.7 per cent lower than Germany’s, and manufacturing companies worldwide embracing digital technologies, urgent attention needs to be paid to finding ways to become more competitive.
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ROBOTIC AUTOMATION One way is through robotic automation. Available in a wide variety of sizes and options and capable of handling a growing range of tasks, robots are becoming an increasingly attractive way of taking the first steps towards achieving a digitalised production environment.
“Robots are a key element of
digitalisation,” explains Mike Wilson, ABB business development manager for the UK and Ireland. “Each movement is controlled by data which can then be analysed to inform plant engineers of what’s happening during production and when maintenance is needed. Rather than needing to visit each piece of equipment individually, data trends can
S1 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018 | INDUSTRY 4.0 & THE IIOT 4
be interpreted by intelligent software so that the robots’ performance can be optimised and productivity increased. “Furthermore, with many consumers now purchasing their goods online, robots offer the inherent flexibility to handle the growing trend towards personalisation and the expectation that whatever you want you should get in as little as 24 hours. Whatever the industry, be it food or electronics through to plastics or metals, UK manufacturers would do best to adopt robots now so that they can be prepared,” says Wilson.
"Developments have improved the potential for UK manufacturers to embrace robots’ flexibility"
Many UK manufacturers believe robots
are only suitable for straightforward, repetitive and high volume tasks. However, advances in areas such as vision technology, force control and safety programming have opened up a great number of applications where robots can be used. These include small parts assembly using grippers with integrated cameras, picking and placing products
ABB robotics’ YuMi Collaborative robot is the result of years of research and
development, making closer collaboration between humans and robots a reality
using vision guided recognition as well as producing a variety of components using recipe-driven programming. “Developments have improved the potential for UK manufacturers to embrace robots’ flexibility,” explains Wilson. “It’s no longer important that you understand programming languages. Programming can be performed using a handheld device which allows you to control the robots movements logging waypoints as you go. These various programmes can then later be selected via a Human Machine Interface (HMI).” Another more recent development in
digital software, ABB Ability, allows users to build, alter and test programs offline before they are uploaded to the robot. This means programming can be performed remotely with no downtime, as new data trends reveal varying demands. There is even a way for production
engineers to virtually commission and program robots using virtual reality headsets. The programmers can move around a 3D image of the robot, examining it at all angles and making adjustments where necessary. Productivity is significantly increased where engineers can work in such depth without stopping production.
GIANT LEAP FOR PRODUCTIVITY Although digitalisation of the UK’s factories sounds like a challenge for manufacturers, the reality is that it’s already happening around the globe. If we don’t begin to embrace the technologies now, we risk falling further behind. Robots provide a simple, user-friendly and highly productive way for the UK manufacturing sector to begin to make this journey. After all, it’s one small step for the shop floor, one giant leap for manufacturing productivity.
ABB Robotics T: 01908 350300
http://new.abb.com/products/robotics /AUTOMATION
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