Automated Assembly Systems

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Despite its advanced capabilities, automation equipment used on assembly lines remains susceptible to failure. This presents manufacturers with the ongoing challenge of preventing unplanned equipment downtime, which is always disruptive and costly.

Justifying automation has never been easier. The Covid pandemic, coupled with a severe worker shortage, a widening skills gap and the "great resignation," has increased demand for automated guided vehicles, conveyors, robots and other types of equipment.

Some questions that manufacturers must address have a simple yes or no answer. Others are not so clear cut. A good example of the latter type is 'Should we build automation in-house?'

That marketers increasingly use robots and automation equipment in their TV ads should come as no surprise. To them, such machinery represents the product they're selling: An automatic and simple push-button solution to the problem consumers are worried about at that moment.

Many people are afraid of snakes and spiders. But, robots and other machines also create anxiety and trepidation in some humans. While Industry 4.0 technology, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, collaborative robots, data analytics and digital twins, now make it easier than ever for humans and machines to work in close proximity, fears persist.

Does this sound familiar? Management envisions "a sea of robots" on the shop floor. They haven't deployed robots before, and they don't have a specific goal in mind. They just want "automation." The next thing you know, there's a collaborative robot on the loading dock. Your job: Find something to do with it.

Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”

Alabama is home to a variety of manufacturers that employ thousands of people, including Airbus, Austal, Boeing, Daimler, GE Appliances, Honda, Hyundai, Lear, Polaris and Toyota.

Step Feeder Supplies Magnets for Automotive Assembly; Two Feeders Are Synced for Assembly Automation; Hopper Keeps Feeder Bowls Topped Up...

When people say that two foods are better together than separately, like peanut butter and jelly, or macaroni and cheese, they're giving simple examples of the benefit of synergy.