Automated Assembly Systems

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In the nautical disaster movie, “The Perfect Storm,” three weather fronts converge off the coast of New England to create one of the fiercest storms in U.S. history. A similar convergence is occurring in the manufacturing world today. It’s called Industry 4.0 and it promises to transform the way that engineers design and build products over the next two decades.

Just a few decades ago, the typical American or European driver would never have believed that China, a communist country, would one day be the world’s largest car producer (by volume).

Traditional solar panel installations require expensive and time-consuming assembly of custom mounting systems on a roof, which can ultimately slow adoption.

Cell phones, tablets, GPS devices and other mobile electronics are smaller, thinner, lighter and more powerful than ever. Wireless Internet connections, RFID and Bluetooth have become essential features of these devices, necessitating highly complex transmission mechanisms.

Laser welding is one of the newest technologies for joining thermoplastic parts. This noncontact process has many advantages. It’s fast and precise, and it doesn’t generate flash or particulates.

PETROLIA, CA—Victor Scheinman, the Stanford engineering professor whose electrically powered, computer-controlled robot would become the Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly (PUMA) robot, has died at age 73.

HOLDREGE, NE—Becton Dickinson & Co. is investing $100 million to expand its assembly plant here to make room for insulin syringe manufacturing.

Walk into any modern assembly and packaging facility, and the conveyor systems may very well resemble roller coasters at an amusement park—going up steep inclines, moving down drops, and twisting and turning around equipment and machinery as they transfer product from one area of the plant to another.

Multistation automated assembly systems are a wonder to behold. A well-designed system can mass-produce hundreds of assemblies per minute with minimal human intervention.

In every manufacturing industry, tradition is becoming less important. Companies no longer assume that what worked in the past will be enough to keep and gain customers. Instead, they look to the latest technology to improve manufacturing processes, optimize product quality and expand their customer base.