Robotic screwdriving offers numerous advantages to manufacturers, such as flexibility and repeatability. However, it’s easy to underestimate the requirements of automation. Sometimes, engineers specify the wrong type of robot or overlook parts feeding issues.

Several issues need to be addressed before there will be more widespread use of robotic screwdriving. Cost, robot design, training, culture and other factors must be considered by manufacturing engineers.

Assemblers must work quickly while meeting strict quality requirements.

The facility was created by Lipson in 2001 to develop robots that “create and are creative. We explore novel autonomous systems that can design and make other machines automatically,” he points out.

NOŠOVICE, Moravia—At Hyundai’s assembly plant here, a single, flexible robotic welding line can assemble doors for multiple models at the same time.

Manufacturers in many industries are reshoring their assembly lines. Several factors are behind this phenomenon, including the ability to automate assembly tasks that traditionally used manual or semiautomated fastening equipment.

Finding and using new technology has been a constant guiding principle for Twin City Fan and Blower (TCFB) throughout its nearly 40-year history.

High-tech entertainment electronics—from diminutive MP3 players to large LED screens—are what Blusens Global Corp. manufactures on its new automated assembly line. 

ZILINA, Slovakia—Thanks to a small army of robots, the Kia automotive assembly plant here is one of the few plants in the world capable of building up to eight different models on the same line.