Automation

With financial backing from their joint U.S. parent company Teradyne, Mobile Industrial Robots and Universal Robots have acquired a 50,000-sq.-m building site in Odense, where $36 million will be invested in the construction of a major cobot hub in the “cobot capital” of the world. Collaborative robots – or cobots – are now the fastest growing segment of industrial automation. Cobots are a type of user-friendly robots that can work closely with humans without the need for safety guarding, enhancing both work environment and productivity.

PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P., a provider of motion control and precision automation systems, announces Dave Rego as the new president of PI’s Auburn, Massachusetts-based North American operations.

Account managers Brian Basiliere and Kyle Inman have been hired to manage accounts for users of Hexagon production software. The Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence production software business has hired two new team members in support of its metalcutting software.

The production of comprehensive manufacturing solutions from a single source is the main requirement for many mechanical engineering production planners. Typically, a general contractor would be responsible for the development of a complex line of interlinked machines with a variety of technologies. This provides the manufacturing company with two major benefits: the overall planning is easier (of the new factory) and a production partner that guarantees a perfectly designed, flexible, manufacturing solution, even for the most complex production situation. For years, the EMAG Group has been this partner, as it is one of the few machine builders that covers the entire process chain from soft to hard machining. Now, the experts are taking the next step with the creation of EMAG Systems and combining their project engineering expertise.

Universal Robots launched its new cobot leasing program in collaboration with DLL, a global vendor finance company. The new partnership enables all manufacturers, regardless of size or capital equipment budgets, to reap the benefits of automation without worrying about cash flow and seasonal fluctuations.

January is traditionally a month for new hope and new energy to meet life and business goals. But for manufacturers facing a new year with the lowest unemployment rate in more than five decades, it can be a tough time to expect workers to come back with enthusiasm from holiday celebrations to dull and menial tasks. That makes January an ideal time for National Cobot Awareness Month

New robots will be able to generate savings in manufacturing and plug short-term gaps while helping create future jobs.

Tooling Tech Group (TTG), a Macomb, Michigan-based provider of engineered tools and automated assembly equipment to a wide range of industries, has hired Craig Fullenkamp as its Segen Quick-Change and standard products sales engineer.