Automated Assembly Systems

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Software is playing an increasing role in industrial automation. That’s been good in terms of boosting the functionality and flexibility of machines. But, writing code can also add cost and time to the development process.

Farason Corp. has been designing and building automated assembly systems for more than 25 years. Based in Coatesville, PA, the company has designed automation systems for food, cosmetics, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, personal care products, toys and solar cells. The company’s client list includes Blistex Inc., Crayola Crayons, L’Oreal USA, Smith Medical and even the U.S. Mint.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation recently shipped a custom-built depaneling cell to a leading Tier 1 automotive supplier. The fully automatic cell loads circuit board panels from standard magazines and depanels them using servo-driven router heads. The individual boards are then loaded into trays, which are automatically stacked.

A good partnership between customers and suppliers leads to optimal solutions and long-term prosperity all around.

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI—Jervis B. Webb Co. is working on a $60 million conveyor project at Chrysler’s assembly plant here.

BERLIN—Festo Corp. has invented a pneumatic conveyor belt that uses wave action to transport objects in a targeted manner and sort them at the same time.

NORDLINGEN, Germany—Six-axis robots and a rotary indexing table are the heart of a high-speed automated assembly system that produces 200,000 automotive sensors daily.

It has become fashionable lately for some U.S. companies to tout how they’ve reshored production from overseas. Baldor Electric Co. isn’t one of them—it never left. The company has been manufacturing electric motors, drives, bearings and other motion control products in the United States for decades.

Component interoperability for PC-based vision systems has come a long way in a short time. The main reason for this quick evolution is interface standards, which the AIA, a machine vision trade group, began introducing in 2000.

Premixed, ready-to-drink, functional beverages are certainly convenient, but that convenience comes with some trade-offs.