XIAOLAN, China—Comau has designed and deployed a flexible body-in-white (BIW) manufacturing line for JMC Ford’s assembly plant here, which produces high-end pickup trucks. 

In basketball, the most flexible player is often the smallest person on the team. Small robots play a similar role in manufacturing.

Besides speed and accuracy, today’s SCARA robots offer better control, simpler programming and greater durability.

DETROIT—The automotive industry will account for half of the 31,000 industrial robots expected to be sold worldwide in 2018, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

ANN ARBOR, MI—Robot orders and shipments in North America set new records in 2015, according to Robotic Industries Association. A total of 31,464 robots valued at $1.8 billion were ordered from North American companies during 2015, an increase of 14 percent in units and 11 percent in dollars over 2014.

EVERETT, WA—Boeing may deploy robots on its airplane assembly lines as early as next year. The company has been testing its Fuselage Automated Upright Build technology in secret over the past year and has found success drilling rivet holes on 777 fuselages. Boeing believes the FAUB will improve workplace safety and production speed.

Assemblers continue to invest in robots. Does your assembly plant employ robots? Is it planning to? Share your thoughts!

YOKOHAMA, Japan—Ninety-six percent of the production process at Toyota’s Motomachi assembly plant is completed by robots. The plant employs 760 robots and produces one vehicle every 135 seconds.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation Specialists has delivered a custom robotic screwdriving system to a manufacturer of construction products. The system automates the assembly of modular aluminum fencing, which drastically reduces manual labor and increases quality.