RobotWorx: Industry News

Regulations give robots edge in food industry

Due to regulations passed in 2011, material handling robotics now have the edge in the food and beverage industry. In January 2011, President Barack Obama signed The Food Safety Modernization Act. This act gave the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the food is grown, harvested and processed. This law was proposed following several outbreaks of food-related illness and tainted food during the 2000s.

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"Trimming the Fat" with Material Handling Robotics

Lean manufacturing is a system of using production resources efficiently. While material handling robots have not traditionally been used to “trim the fat” on these systems – because they may help to increase waste instead of helping – companies are turning to robots because of their speed, accuracy, repeatability and cycle times. More than 100,000 robots are bought and integrated into facilities each year, and many of them are material handling robots.

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Working to keep humans out of harm's way

For years, material handling robots have been raising the safety level in several different fields by either detecting hazards or handling hazards. Material handling robotics work to keep humans safe, which follows in line with Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics: “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” These robots are working to make sure that humans are not put in dangerous environments or exposed to toxic chemicals.

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Lifting with material handling robots

Workers handle material in the workplace on a daily basis. When lifting boxes or other items, humans must be careful to lift heavy pieces in a specific way to reduce injury. This can slow down the lifting process and puts limitations on how much can be lifted at one time. Some facilities have forklifts or cranes that are manually operated to lift materials on a larger scale – materials that humans could not possibly lift.

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Things to consider when automating material handling applications

Robot material handling is defined as movement, packaging or storing of materials in a manner that saves time, space and money while using a robot system. When you're ready to automate your material handling applications, you may want to move ahead swiftly. However, your company should stop to consider all the factors that go into laying out a good, productive workcell or robot for your facility.

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Making material handling robotics work for you

So, your manufacturing facility has been growing over the last few years, and all of a sudden, your supply can’t keep up with the demand for your company’s product. What do you do? Automate, of course! Material handling robots can speed up the production and packaging on any manufacturing line.

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Robots that can see

Throughout the years, robots have taken their place throughout manufacturing industries. As the push to enhance productivity and improve accuracy grows, so does the need to develop new technology to aid robots' pinpoint precision. What is the best way to do that? Give them the ability to see.

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Playing it safe with material handling robots

While material handling robots are now being utilized in the manufacturing, shipping and food industries to enhance production and cut costs, these robots are also used to raise the safety level in facilities for human workers. It is very common for a material handling robot to perform sorting, packaging and palletizing functions. Material handling robotics are employed for tasks that could be hazardous to humans either from being too repetitive or too strenuous.

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Shield gases: Protecting one robotic weld at a time

Robotic welding takes on many forms, including gas metal arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding, better known as MIG and TIG welding, respectively. While the robotic welding process has many steps and requires different pieces of equipment -- robot arm, welding gun, filler, etc. – one of the most important things is the shielding gas, the material that protects the area during the welding process.

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The three P's of material handling robotics

Material handling is the process of moving material from one place to another in the manufacturing process. Many material handling functions are tedious, dull and time consuming for human workers. Several of them, including palletizing and part transfer, which may require heavy lifting, can also be injury-inducing.

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