ROSEMONT, IL –  To help draw attention to the breadth and quality of new technologies in assembly manufacturing, the 2021 ASSEMBLY Show will host  the “New Product of the Year” contest.   Twenty products were selected from over 200 Assembly Show 2021 exhibiting companies and have been broken down into the following five categories: Assembly Machines & Systems, Adhesives, Dispensing & Curing, Fastening Tools, Robotics, and Factory of the Future.  Attendees will be invited to vote in the New Product of the Year Booth - #2025 - on the show floor during the 9th annual ASSEMBLY Show taking place October 26-28 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. 

“The Assembly editorial team received hundreds of submissions and we nominated 20 products in five categories that we think are particularly innovative. We invite attendees to stop by booth #2025 during the show to vote and then to join us on Thursday morning during the Morning Mingle and Breakfast in booth #2025 at 9:30 am to hear the winner announcement,”  said John Sprovieri, Editor in Chief of ASSEMBLY Magazine who helped to select the finalists. Below are the new products that will be featured in the New Product of the Year booth:

Assembly Machines & Systems:

• Emerson’s Branson GMX-20MA ultrasonic metal spot welder joins nonferrous metals, including bus bars, foils, switches, and wire terminations in automotive electrical systems, electric vehicles, batteries and battery packs, power storage systems and related applications. Booth 905
• FlexFactory’s flexfeeder X-Series of feeders work with all types of robots and are controlled by feedware XOS software. Models X185, X250 and X350 feature an integrated vision system and a toplight tower, and are designed for frequent part changes.  Booth 1305
• Lanco Integrated’s Automated Assembly Line builds three variants of a rice-sized subassembly for a microelectromechanical system used in consumer electronics and medical devices.  Booth 1205
• Promess Inc’s FlexIQ, is a new smart assembly press with fully integrated servo drive, force and position sensing, and controller in a single light-weight package. Booth 305

Adhesives, Dispensing & Curing:

• EpoxySet Inc.’ Flashbond  UV-3607HT epoxy cures with UV energy, heat or both, but does not have to be activated with UV light to cure, making it distinctive from other dual-cure epoxies.  Booth 1811
• Henkel Corp’s Pallumina is a new, environmentally friendly pretreatment process for metal car and truck bodies prior to painting. Booth 605
• Permabond Engineering Adhesives’ Permabond MT3836 is a two-component hybrid adhesive that cures fully at room temperature to form a flexible, thermally conductive material capable of bonding a variety of materials. Booth 644
• ViscoTec America Inc.’s eco-DUOMIX mixes and dispenses two-part silicones, epoxies, polyurethanes, polyesters and acrylates.  Booth 1613

Fastening Tools:

• Desoutter Industrial Tools’ Virtual Cord for Cordless Tool is a radio-supported feature which lets engineers define a radius in which the tool can be used.  Booth 705
• ESTIC America Inc’s THE400 SCARA ERS and THL900 SCARA are Robot Install Fasteners designed for automatic installation of threaded fasteners.  Booth 1923
• Sturtevant Richmont’s TAC torque wrench is fast and agile like a mechanical click wrench but provides final torque and angle values like a digital torque wrench. Booth 1537
• Wera Tools’ 6004 Joker is a universal ratcheting wrench that automatically and continuously adjusts itself to tighten a range of fasteners in both metric and standard sizes. Booth 1500

Robotics:

• IAI America Inc.’s  IXA series of high-performance SCARA robots are available with arm lengths from 180 to 600 millimeters. Booth 1805
• Universal Robots’  ActiNav is a UR+ application kit that enables engineers to use UR cobots for machine tending applications involving autonomous bin picking of parts.  Booth 1311
• SCHUNK’s ADHESO gripper, inspired by gecko feet, consists of hundreds of fine polymer bristles that adhere to various materials without leaving a residue. Booth 105
• Zimmer Group and J. Schmalz GmbH have collaborated to create MATCH, a multifunctional end-of-arm tooling platform for robots. Booth 1223

 Factory of the Future:

• Real Time Automation Inc’s 435NBX, 435USB and 490NBX gateways move ASCII serial data and Ethernet bar code, weigh scale and RFID data to Allen-Bradley PLCs. Booth 444
• Trumpf Inc’s TruPrint 3000 is a medium-format 3D printing system that uses powder-bed-based laser melting to produce parts with a diameter of up to 300 millimeters and a height of up to 400 millimeters.   Booth 1944
• Tulip Interfaces has published a newly upgraded version of its downloadable content library, which now features 60 configurable industrial apps, 12 app suites, 18 connectors and 100 device drivers to help manufacturers accelerate digital transformation.   Booth 2012
• Symbio Robotics’ SymbioDCS is a robot-agnostic AI software platform that empowers automation teams to build and deploy high-quality applications to assemble anything, in any factory, at any scale. Booth 551

More detailed descriptions and images of each product can be viewed online at www.assemblymag.com/the-assembly-show/2021-new-product-awards. 

The 9^th Annual ASSEMBLY Show will kick off with three half day workshops on Tuesday, October 26 on Electric Vehicle Assembly, Fastening & Joining and Robotics Assembly.  The exhibit hall will be open on Tuesday, October 26 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm; Wednesday, October 27 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Thursday, October 28 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.   For information about exhibiting or sponsorships, click here to contact the ASSEMBLY Show sales staff. Registration is open and is free for buyers and users of assembly equipment through Thursday, September 30. Click here for more information. 

The ASSEMBLY Show, sponsored by ASSEMBLY (www.assemblymag.com) has rapidly become the industry’s leading trade show focused exclusively on assembly equipment, services and products.  ASSEMBLY serves the multi-billion dollar assembly market and has been since 1958! ASSEMBLY is the leading brand covering the processes, technologies, and strategies for assembling discrete parts into finished products. ASSEMBLY offers an integrated portfolio of products including the industry’s leading trade show.