Industry News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Okuma America Corporation, a builder of CNC machine tools, announces the completion of the company’s newest production facility Dream Site 3 (DS3)  located in in Kani, Japan.

North Haven, CT …IBAG North America announces the appointment of Mr. Srinvasa Prasad of Engineering Solutions Shop to represent IBAG high speed spindle and the Witte vacuum workholding systems product lines in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

The human hand is still regarded as the benchmark when it comes to flexibility of gripping tools. Humanoid manipulators that enable the widest variety of gripping variants will be more and more in demand in future, particularly when it comes to service and assistance robotics. In addition, the factor of economical viability is increasingly important.

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology developed robots that have the ability to reason about shape, function and attachment of unrelated parts. This lets the robots build basic tools by combining objects. The breakthrough is a significant step toward enabling intelligent agents to devise tools that could prove useful in hazardous situations.

For the first time, the annual World Robotics report includes a specific analysis on the market for collaborative robots, documenting a robust 23% growth worldwide. The International Federation of Robotics’ report indicates that a substantial part of the adoption will be driven by more intelligent components, such as smart grippers, “plug and play” interfaces and programming by demonstrations.

Halter CNC Automation B.V. from the Netherlands and Fastems Oy Ab from Finland have an intention to establish a joint venture, the Halter Group. Relevant parts of Fastems Systems GmbH related to R&D and production of the Halter LoadAssistant product range will be transferred to the newly founded Halter CNC Automation GmbH. This company will be located in Issum, Germany, and, together with Halter CNC Automation B.V., it will form the Halter Group.

Toolmaker LMT Tools and Liebherr-Verzahntechnik GmbH, a leading manufacturer of CNC gear cutting machines and automation systems, are collaborating to continue the success story of the patented ChamferCut method. The two technology partners signed a cooperation contract for the new ChamferCut-CG (collision gear) and ChamferCut-IG (internal gear).

As per the findings of a report, the global industrial robotics market is projected to indicate substantial growth over the forecast period due to multiple driving factors such as adoption of internet of things in industries and growing digitization of manufacturing industry across geographies.

Toolcraft Inc., a small machine shop in Monroe, Washington, makes parts for such industries as aerospace, defense and medical. The company needed help tending its CNC machine and ultimately turned to e-Series collaborative robots by Universal Robots A/S.

The global servo motors and drives market was valued at about US$ 9 Bn in 2014, and is expected to surpass US$ 12 Bn by the end of 2019. The servo motors and drives market is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 8% between 2019 and 2029, and is estimated to reach a global value of about US$ 28 Bn by the end of 2029.

In 1919, Louis Affolter, the second child of the watchmakers Samuel and Marie-Louise Affolter, founded his own company and started to produce gears and pivots for the Swiss watch manufacturers in the area. 100 years later, nine Affolter family members work in the high-tech enterprise Affolter Group and its daughter companies Affolter Technologies and Affolter Pignons.

Loading and unloading CNC machines is becoming one of the most popular applications for collaborative robots as manufacturers face significant difficulties in staffing this tedious task. A new distributor agreement between Universal Robots and Phillips Corp. will further the rapid deployment of cobots with Haas CNC machines, offering machine shops a safe, user-friendly solution to optimize spindle uptime.

Applied Manufacturing Technologies announced Aug. 11, 2019 marks the company’s 30-year anniversary. Founded in 1989 by Michael Jacobs, the company has grown to 130 employees serving U.S. manufacturers from the Orion, Michigan, headquarters. AMT has built a tradition of excellence in providing customers with engineering and design services, and turnkey automation systems.

With application-tailored implementation of the umati interface for the machine tool sector, since 2017 clear contents and technical key data for translation into hands-on reality have been drawn up. What this means specifically, and what visitors can expect to see at the EMO Hannover, are explained by three experts: Götz Görisch is responsible at the VDW for the field of digitization and Industry 4.0, and is chairman of the umati Joint Working Group. Bernd Zapf is responsible for development new business and technology at Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Nürtingen, while Andreas Wohlfeld is lead architect smart factory at Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG in Ditzingen, and heads the modeling group of the umati Joint Working Group.

BLM Group USA has announced the appointment of two new regional sales managers to help develop sales of the company’s laser tube cutting systems, benders and machining equipment product lines.

OnRobot, a manufacturer of end-of-arm tooling for collaborative robot applications, has opened its first location specifically dedicated to R&D in the U.S. Based in Culver City in Los Angeles, California, the new office area boasts 6,000 sq. ft. for engineers, researchers and local staff to work and develop new products.

Cole Technologies Inc., Columbus, Indiana, is a certified Universal Robots system integrator that supplies automation systems specializing in pick-and-place, deburring and plastic part trimming applications. One recent project involved the deflashing of molded parts where a more accurate robot path was deemed necessary.

Effective Aug. 1, 2019, Dr. Heiner Lang will join the executive board of Bosch Rexroth AG, Lohr a. Main, Germany. Once on the board, he will take over responsibility for engineering, which currently lies with Rolf Najork, chairman of the executive board of Bosch Rexroth AG and member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, responsible for the industrial technology business sector.

The Board of Directors of intelligent factory automation solutions provider Fastems Oy Ab has appointed Mr. Mikko Nyman, (40), M.Sc. (Econ.), as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective May 1, 2019.

Ann Arbor, Michigan: As part of its mission to make the advantages of collaborative robotics widely accessible, Universal Robots (UR) has launched a worldwide network of Authorized Training Centers that expands on the company’s popular Universal Robots Academy online training.