Armed with automation

Industrial robots can benefit virtually all manufacturers, but small and medium enterprises often view robots as too expensive, cumbersome and difficult to program and integrate into existing production, according to Thomas Visti, chief commercial officer and vice president for Universal Robots A/S. The company introduced its low-cost, lightweight and easy-to-program robotic arms to the U.S. market at IMTS 2012.

“Many companies worldwide have invested in UR robots to save manpower, whereas others have used them to boost product quality or productivity,” Visti said. “Sometimes they are used in repetitive tasks to improve working conditions for employees. We see potential in all these applications in the U.S. market.”

Courtesy of Universal Robots

A robot from Universal Robots loads steel workpieces into a CNC lathe at Nymann Teknik, a machine shop in Hobro, Denmark. Below: A UR robotic arm comes with a controller and touch panel.

The UR5 sells for less than $31,000, weighs 40.6 lbs. and has a payload capacity of 11 lbs. The UR10 sells for around $39,000, weighs 63.7 lbs. and has a payload capacity of 22 lbs. Both arms come with a controller and touch panel.