Automation blog
Digitally Transform your Food Production Line using Smart Pick and Place Robot
17 November, 2021 A once in a generation labour shortage has put the UK food industry in a precarious position. Through a combination of Covid and Brexit, fewer workers being available is placing significant strains on food production and supply chains. A lack of:Delivery driversProduction line workersFruit pickersAbattoir staffAnd other workersHas led to instances of empty supermarket shelves with a growing number of missed food deliveries. Our food supply chains are beginning to feel the bite.
Manual Tasks in Manufacturing: Risky? Expensive? Both!
04 November, 2021 There are fewer people employed in the manufacturing sector now than at any other point in the last 25 years!! According to the Office for National Statistics, the 6- month period between October 2020 and April 2021 saw the lowest level of employment in the manufacturing sector since 1996. Conversely, consumer demand is at an all-time high. The impact of this is acutely felt in the food industry where a severe shortage of workers has led to unprecedented levels of job vacancies..
FasThink optimizes Garnet's intralogistics with mobile robots
02 November, 2021 Garnet relies on FasThink to innovate its logistics and production processes.
Automation and the human touch
27 October, 2021 Ensuring products are sorted correctly and placed in the correct orientations are critical functions when preparing food and other consumer goods to be packaged and ready for consumption. Imagine if a multipack of peppers had 3 green ones; or if a pack of pancakes had 2 missing because they were outside of the range of the flow-wrapper. Doubtless, we wouldn’t be too happy. Even worse, we can’t get hold of the products we want because there is a large scale shortage…
Intelligent System Solutions with Autonomous Mobile Robot: AM-Flow and OMRON
27 October, 2021 Industry 4.0 brings the promise of streamlined processes, big data insights and production lines running 24/7 with zero downtime. Unlike historical ‘industrial revolutions,’ this one offers the luxury of time and choice for manufacturers. That’s because the benefits of automation can be embraced incrementally or fully, whether it’s a new state-of-the-art facility or something retrofit-installed into a more traditional production setup. Making it easier to make the move is AM-Flow, an entrepreneurial start-up currently making waves in providing its solutions to the new tide of producers coming ashore in the world of additive manufacturing.
Fuelling the success of local battery cell production
20 September, 2021 Expert and automotive manufacturers alike agree that e-mobility is the future. Batteries and battery manufacturing are central to this development. In this context, the global market for lithium-ion batteries is expected to grow from 44.2 billion US dollars (2020) to 94.4 billion dollars (2025). The transformation of the automotive industry from internal combustion engines to battery or hydrogen-powered fuel cells is presenting companies with immense challenges.
How the RB1200 Cobot Palletiser can transform your businesses’ labelling needs
17 September, 2021 For many businesses, the logistics of transferring large amounts of inventory around their facility is a significant headache. Everything has to be labelled and organised to ensure it gets sent to the correct location for use, storage, or shipping. Even minor errors during the labelling process reduce efficiency and can potentially compound to create costly mistakes. The job itself is not a desirable one, though. Human beings are not best suited for repetitive tasks whilst staying alert and maintaining concentration to ensure mistakes don’t occur. This is, however, a task tailor-made for automation.
Developing digital capability: how any factory can be smart
16 September, 2021 Thankfully, the headline-grabbing ‘Industry 4.0’ isn’t reserved exclusively for the high-tech giants that span the globe, nor is the term ‘smart factory’ applied only to brand-new installations. In truth, any traditional factory can in principle take steps on the smart factory journey, by applying modularity to the existing installation.
Unika makes Landmark decision to bring quality levels to new heights
25 August, 2021 OMRON TM cobots with integrated vision system eliminate human error, increase production efficiency.
Flexible, safe and easy collaborative welding solution from Guidetti Technology
20 August, 2021 Guidetti Technology SRL has integrated OMRON collaborative robots (cobots) into its ‘EasyArc’ welding solution. This is used in collaborative applications on small batches of various types of metal carpentry
How labour shortages are affecting the logistics sector and why automation is the solution
11 August, 2021 By Stuart Coulton, Regional Manager, OMRON UK North