AUTOMATION & ROBOTS

The Promise of a New Access-to-Capital Model

A free online loan prequalification tool currently offered in Colorado with the potential for introduction to other U.S. markets can enable manufacturers to more easily finance new technologies including automation equipment.
#columns

SMW Mechatronic Grippers Automate Key Processes

SMW Mechatronic Grippers Automate Key Processes

The Motiact mechatronic gripper series is designed to perform precise, consistent, accurately monitored gripping operations in automated work cells.

Okuma America Corp. Appoints New VP of Engineering & Factory Automation Group

Okuma America Corp. Appoints New VP of Engineering & Factory Automation Group

Wade Anderson will lead Okuma America Corp.’s engineering department, which includes applications engineering, product engineering and quality assurance teams.

A3 Commemorates 50 Years as an Organization

A3 Commemorates 50 Years as an Organization

The Association for Advancing Automation now represents more than 1,280 member companies around the world.

Hemco Corp. Enclosures Protect Robotic Processes

Hemco Corp. Enclosures Protect Robotic Processes

The enclosures are designed protect robotic processes from contamination and personnel from hazardous fumes.

Hainbuch chuck

Job Shop Discovers and Fills a Fishing Need

The promise of a product line for improved mounting of electronic fish finders led this Missouri job shop to an automated turning process.

Derek Korn Editor-in-Chief, Production Machining magazine
Edge Technologies Bar Feeder Automates Short Production Runs

Edge Technologies Bar Feeder Automates Short Production Runs

The Rebel 80 Servo v3 is a specialized solution for automating short production runs at an economical price.

New Partnership Advances Development of Autonomous Manufacturing Cell

New Partnership Advances Development of Autonomous Manufacturing Cell

Trak Machine Tools has partnered with Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to support the development and use of a fully integrated, autonomous manufacturing platform.

Kuka Automated Mobile Platforms Streamline Operations

Kuka Automated Mobile Platforms Streamline Operations

The KMP 1500P AMR features a 60-mm stroke and precision positioning, enabling it to transport up to 1.5-tons of materials and workpieces, picks good, supply lines and cells with materials and transport production parts in process linking.

An Automation Comeback Story

Alexandria Industries struggled with its first robotic machining cell. However, the aluminum extrusion components manufacturer — now with more than 20 robots — discovered that by simplifying and standardizing its automation strategy, it could reap the benefits of unattended machining even for relatively low batch sizes.

Walter Launches Metalworking Automation Service

Walter has partnered with a large network of North American system integrators and end-of-arm tool manufacturers to craft a turnkey automatization process.

ATI Tool Changer Enables Reliable Exchange of Robotic Tooling

The MC-50 provides a solution for quickly changing robotic end-of-arm tooling by hand.

Star Swiss-type automatic lathes

Using Automation to Reduce COGS and Stay Globally Competitive

Decade-long, multiphase automation investments lower operating costs and maintain technology lead in an increasingly competitive global market.

Peggy Malnati Contributing Writer, MMT

VIDEOS

Machine operator placing Haubex workholding hood into toolchanger

Using the Toolchanger to Automate Production

Taking advantage of a feature that’s already on the machine tool, Lang’s Haubex system uses the toolchanger to move and store parts, making it an easy-to-use and cost-effective automation solution.

SEE ALL AUTOMATION & ROBOTS VIDEOS
thread gaging on the Q-Span

Replace Repetitive Measurement With DIY Robotic Automation

After minimal training, a shop can learn how to use this robotic inspection system configured for a shopfloor application to supersede repetitive, time-consuming, high-mix gaging processes. It can then be redeployed for another application somewhere else in the facility.

single-lug hub with pit crew

Reinventing the Wheel with Robot-Automated CNC Multitasking

One race team discovers how to efficiently manufacture a new wheel nut design for the next-generation NASCAR stock car with the help of a CNC mill/turn and a built-in robot.

EZ BAR Series

A Tale About an Automation Solution Discovered in Production Machining

A CNC Swiss production supervisor took to LinkedIn to describe how he discovered a rotary parts collector in the pages of our publication and has since purchased and benefited from it.
#columns

Derek Korn Editor-in-Chief, Production Machining magazine
EMO 2023 Press Conference Takeaways

EMO 2023 Press Conference Takeaways

Writing for the EMO Daily publication at the recent show in Hannover, Germany, led me to learn about aspects of our industry I might not have otherwise heard about.

Machine-Tending Cobot Fills Night Shift

Machine-Tending Cobot Fills Night Shift

A collaborative robot helped this shop run a machine tool 24/7 when hiring someone for a third shift didn’t seem to be an option.

High-Volume Machine Shop Automates Secondary Ops

High-Volume Machine Shop Automates Secondary Ops

An Ohio contract shop added a compact, self-loading CNC lathe to perform unattended secondary ops on a part for a key customer rather than running it on a manually loaded chucker.
#horizontal-and-vertical-lathes

The Advantages of Automated Shopfloor Gaging

This “parallel kinematic” gage offers the opportunity to automate and improve machining process control for shops endeavoring to move from sample inspection to 100% inspection.

This Shop is Taking an Automated Aerospace Approach

A flexible manufacturing system helps an Indiana job shop run a mix of aerospace work for long stretches of time and function more like a contract shop.

Tezmaksan Automation System Enables Seamless Integration

CubeBox enables users to program robots using visual elements, drag-and-drop functionality and predefined templates.

VIEW ALL AUTOMATION & ROBOTS ARTICLES
World Machine Tool Survey