Within the next decade approximately 2.7 million “Baby Boomers” (b. 1946-1964) will retire, thereby ensuring that tens of thousands of skilled, well-paid positions will become available without a ready supply of American workers to fill them. Statistics paint an especially gloomy picture for the manufacturing sector, a widening of the skills gap, and a possible dilution of existing training programs.
ABB recently hosted “Billions of Better Decisions – Empowering the Workforce with the Industrial Internet of Things”, a panel discussion focused on the convergence of digitalization and sustainability and the critical role of the industrial IoT. This article highlights what these experts address as the mega trends of digitalization and sustainability and how leaders can use the industrial IoT to make better decisions and tackle the threat of the climate crisis.
The industrial applications of cobots are vast, and these smart machines have capabilities that virtually every manufacturing plant or production line can make use of. A cobot arm handles dull, dirty or dangerous jobs on behalf of their human colleagues and minimizes downtime by boosting round-the clock-capacity, if that is what the business needs.
The development of user-friendly technology continues to spark greater confidence among business leaders for the implementation of robotic automation. Highly flexible and capable of optimizing production, more affordable easy-to-program collaborative robots – or “cobots” – are quickly becoming the “go to” for a variety of tasks, including arc welding.
These days, we can’t build electronics quick enough. From the way our cars can sense their surroundings and the refrigerator that can order groceries when you run out to our ability to look up anything in the palm of our hand, electronics drive it all. Consumers and businesses alike want all of it—fast. Here are five examples of how electronics manufacturers are taking advantage of automation in their facilities.
In manufacturing environments, real estate is precious. One of the best and easiest ways to save space is through the machine control cabinets used in electric and pneumatic automation. Traditionally, control components — from the cables to the programmable logic controller (PLC) to valve terminals in pneumatic systems — existed in one or more large cabinets.
With demand for robots growing as companies in multiple sectors look for new ways to enhance their productivity and competitiveness post-pandemic, ABB has compiled a set of growth predictions, looking at key trends driving demand for robots in the coming year. Based on customer conversations, market research and a global survey of 250 companies across multiple industries, ABB has identified three key trends that will shape the demand for robots in 2022.
Mechatronics Canada had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Zoe Reeve, Analytic Product Manager at Endress+Hauser Canada. In this interview she discusses her journey to Endress+Hauser Canada and sheds light on what an Analytic Product Manager does. She also touches on some of the initiatives that have been taken to help women and employees in general achieve professional heights.
The James Webb Space Telescope promises to change the way we see the cosmos by collecting breakthrough observations of galaxies, stars, and planets. But to do this, Webb must have a precise and stable eye on the universe. The telescope’s Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS), one of Canada’s contributions, plays a critical role in this epic mission.
For customers seeking an Industry 4.0 solution for PCs, industrial panels, or embedded and mobile devices, AVEVA Edge provides a powerful, affordable, and user-friendly supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system that integrates seamlessly with Omron technologies, This is thanks to Omron’s partnership with AVEVA.
Heavy-duty autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) like the Omron HD-1500 are quickly becoming a gold standard for automating pallet transport in warehouses and distribution centres. Capable of moving payloads through dynamic and peopled environments using onboard mapping software, AMRs provide the ultimate in flexibility and scalability. When logistics facilities start considering an AMR solution, a common question that arises is how to get the pallets onto robots. It turns out there are three methods for doing this, and each has its own advantages relative to the constrains of a particular warehouse infrastructure. In this article, Omon looks at each of these in turn.
The expansion of today’s concrete jungles is accelerating at an unprecedented pace and shows no sign of slowing any time soon. And while this expansion is necessary to accommodate a growing number of urban residents and workers, the systems that manage a building’s environmental controls have come a long way in terms of sophistication and performance. With each new building that is erected, a Building Automation System (BAS) is deployed to automate and monitor the building’s various environmental controls. Though many take these systems for granted, building automation systems are vital to living and working in comfort. A sophisticated building automation system can be used in buildings both new and old. Programming, installing, and monitoring of these systems requires a workforce with the skills necessary to ensure all components perform optimally with little to no downtime. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on what a BAS is, how it works, and why they are so important.
To enable long-term monitoring of vibrations, Pepperl+Fuchs recently launched a new portfolio of vibration sensors. You can find out what distinguishes these products in the following blog article. Using a wind turbine as an application example, we will also show you how you can use vibration and acceleration sensors in combination to keep an eye on both long-term and short-term changes in vibration.
ABB has been awarded a major contract by NatureWorks, the world’s leading manufacturer of polylactic acid (PLA), a low-carbon bioplastic made from renewable agricultural resources, to automate their new, greenfield plant in Thailand, converting sugar cane to the polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymer, Ingeo™.
For manufacturers looking to get started with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), a common question that comes up is whether they should use the edge or the cloud for data analysis purposes. However, this does not have to be an either-or choice. In fact, both strategies are optimized to fit different needs and can work well together.
When a customer decides they want to implement a cartesian robot for their application, where do they get started? They turn to experts in the industry, like Festo, who has decades of experience in process automation and technology. They are also global leaders in learning systems, training, and consulting. This makes them poised to provide customers with products and solutions that meet their requirements. Festo’s Handling Guide Online, or HGO is an engineering tool that makes it easy to design, configure, and order a handling system.