The strain placed on global supply chains this year continues to make headline news, from semiconductor shortages to labour and equipment availability, all exacerbated by geopolitical uncertainty. One cobot is typically comprised of around 600 different parts, sourced from more than 100 separate suppliers. Any one of those not being available would lead to delays in completing production and delivering a finished arm to customers.
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When it comes to power transmission and motion control, SEW-EURODRIVE needs no formal introduction. Counted among the industry leaders in drive technology, SEW-EURODRIVE makes drive-based automation its business. SEW-EURODRIVE, founded in 1931, is a global company that specializes in gear motors, frequency inverters, drive systems, industrial gears, and control software. SEW-EURODRIVE products are distinguished by their modular components and customer-centric philosophy. Their modular components can be built in a multitude of configurations, durable gear housings, offer flexible mounting capabilities, and provide advanced electronics that ensure equipment continuously operates efficiently.
RFID: Noncontact identification based on radio waves is considered a versatile technology and one of the keys to production environments based on the Industry 4.0 principle. The range of applications is by no means limited to discrete manufacturing—RFID is also becoming increasingly popular in process plants due to the ever more extensive requirements for marking product and work equipment. However, explosion protection requirements often have to be taken into account, because wherever flammable gases, vapors or dusts are generated, electrical equipment poses a significant safety risk. In this blog article, you will gain insight into three application examples that will help you understand the successful and safe use of RFID in hazardous areas.
High-rise buildings in France, tunnels in Switzerland, prestressed concrete ceilings in Germany – one source of their stability is wire products from Kehl in Baden-Württemberg. Badische Drahtwerke GmbH (BDW) supplies reinforcing steel mesh, reinforcement cages, lattice girders and many other rebar and reinforcement products to the region and neighboring countries. When the machines used to produce lattice girders had to undergo a safety update, the engineers took advantage of the communication capabilities of an intelligent power supply from WAGO to improve process efficiency.
Read more: Just Like Before, Only Better! An International...
To protect against internal moisture buildup, many NEMA wash-down motors have weep holes in the mounting face. But when a motor is in a wash-down environment, those weep holes become a liability. The gearbox can retain liquids when water and other cleaning chemicals enter through the weep holes. Over time, this will rust the internal components and affect the lubrication within the gearbox, which results in premature failure.
Palletizing solutions are mission-critical components for end-of-line packaging operations at manufacturing plants around the world. They can range from lightweight – food, beverage, consumer packaged goods – to heavyweight, such as bulk goods like concrete bags. Some specific application examples include breweries, water filters, diapers, and many more packaged items for retail or industrial use that require palletizing and/or shrink wrapping prior to shipment or warehouse storage.
Together, shipping, receiving, and storage count for less than half of all warehouse activity costs. The lion’ share of expenses – a whopping 55% - is bound up in order picking. Breaking down the various activities associated with order picking, Omron finds that over 60% of time is spent walking, with writing, searching, and picking tasks comprising the other 40%. Omron’s Logistics Strategic Account Manager Yaqing Sun recently discussed some strategies for using autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for this purpose at Automate 2022 in June.
Read more: Three Strategies for Immediately Improving Order...
Well-made protective packaging is key to ensuring that foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables arrive on supermarket and grocery shelves in peak condition. Keeping pace with demand means that this packaging needs to be produced as quickly as possible without compromising either quality or strength. Orora Fresh Packaging Solutions is achieving this at its Canada HQ using an ABB robot cell to help assemble, load, and lift its protective cardboard packaging products for the fresh food industry.
Read more: Packaging Supplier Improves Efficiency and Cuts...
The introduction to SEW Eurodrive’s Innovation Lab was a big success. With Ontario reopening earlier this year, SEW Eurodrive has been excited to present their technology and automation solutions with customers, students, and the public again. Konrad Kurylo, P. Eng., was on site with other SEW Eurodrive experts to welcome an enthusiastic and engaged audience, who were eager to see what products and solutions SEW Eurodrive has to offer for Industry 4.0.
Breweries are known for transforming malt, hops, and yeast into beer in gleaming brewing kettles and large fermentation tanks linked by numerous pipes. Over the centuries, the equipment for mashing, lautering, boiling, and fermenting beer according to carefully guarded recipes has been steadily perfected. One of the most important parts of the brewery, and perhaps the least visible, is the chiller.
Editor's Pick: Featured Article
Put to the Ultimate Test – Part 1: Torsion Tests by HELUKABEL
Cables and wires in industrial robots and other moving machine parts are often required to withstand extreme stresses caused by torsion. Constant repetitive movements put materials under considerable strain. At the same time, operators expect components to function perfectly and reliably throughout their entire service life to avoid disruptions, outages and safety hazards.
For this reason, at HELUKABEL, we simulate intensive and continuous torsion stresses under realistic conditions with our high-tech testing equipment in Windsbach. We have several types of apparatus for doing this because some of our customers, for example those in the automotive industry, have very precise specifications for how a torsion test is carried out. The tests show that our cables and wires withstand speeds up to 1,000°/s, accelerations up to 2,000°/s² and torsion angles up to 720°. Hence, we make sure that each product always meets our customers’ high standards, and that they receive the impeccable quality they rightly expect from us as a leading supplier of cables, wires and accessories for more than 40 years.
What Is Torsion?
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Festo Didactic at the Forefront of Developing Canada’s Future Work Force
With Canadian manufacturing suffering from a growing labour shortage, the participation of industry in skills development is emerging as a vital component in hiring and retention.
The needs are stark: The Canadian Exporters and Manufacturers Association says almost 40% of its members have jobs they can’t fill. Five years from now, 60% expect to be short-staffed, especially when it comes to skilled trades. Statistics Canada forecasts the country’s labour force growth rate will remain below 0.2% for the rest of the decade, below replacement levels.
This growing shortage is affecting companies of all sizes. Already, some manufacturers acknowledge losing out on contracts because they can’t find the manpower to fulfill them.
In reality, the challenge is two-fold: to replenish and expand the workforce to help close the gap between the number of job seekers and vacancies through 2030 when the last baby boomers reach age 65, and ensure workers get opportunities throughout their careers to upgrade or add to their skillset as current technologies evolve and new ones emerge. Festo, through Festo Didactic, one of the world leading provider of equipment and solutions for technical education, intends to help Canada meet this challenge on both fronts. In essence, the approach Festo has always taken is that the learning never stops.
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Product News
New Emerson Valves Deliver Proportional Flow Control Performance in Exacting Applications
Emerson recently introduced the ASCO™ Series 209 proportional flow control valves, which offer the highest standards of precision, pressure ratings, flow characteristics and energy efficiency available in a purpose-built, compact architecture. With this combination of size and performance, Series 209 valves allow users to precisely regulate the flow of fluid in a wide range of devices that require exacting performance, like those found in the medical equipment, food and beverage, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industries.
Accuracy, response time and repeatability are critical in high-precision flow control applications, such as controlling tool speed in dental chairs, the flow of steam in coffee makers, water flow in cooling systems and hydrogen flow in fuel cells. Series 209 valves have low hysteresis (less than or equal to 5%), excellent repeatability (less than or equal to 1%) and high sensitivity (less than or equal to 0.2%) that contribute to their precision.
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Featured Product
Teledyne Announces New Ladybug6 Cameras for High Accuracy 360-Degree Spherical Image Capture
Teledyne FLIR Integrated Imaging Solutions is pleased to announce the all new Ladybug6— the latest addition to its field proven Ladybug series. Ladybug6 is the leading high-resolution camera designed to capture 360-degree spherical images from moving platforms in all-weather conditions. Its industrial grade design and out-of-the-box factory calibration produces 72 Megapixel (MP) images with pixel values that are spatially accurate within +/- 2 mm at 10-meter distance.
“The new Teledyne Ladybug6 is designed for mobile mapping and all-weather inspection projects requiring excellent image quality and high resolution,” said Mike Lee, Senior Product Manager at Teledyne FLIR. “With the addition of Ladybug6, we are now pleased to offer a wider variety of spherical cameras with higher resolutions ranging from 30 MP to 72 MP.”
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