Automation

ODENSE, Denmark – Sept. 5, 2018 – Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a global supplier of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), announced six new distributors in the US, Mexico and Argentina to help meet the ever-increasing demand for its robots worldwide.

SUDBURY, MA. U.S.A. (September 4, 2018) – Methods Machine Tools, Inc. (www.methodsmachine.com), a North American supplier of precision machine tools and automation, has announced that Mr. Sergio Tondato has been appointed as Nakamura-Tome Product Manager.

Accenture believes that investment in artificial intelligence has the potential to double the annual economic growth rates of major developed economies, such as Germany, and triple Japan’s economic rate by 2035. In the manufacturing industry, Accenture believes that the power of AI technologies will increase profitability by 39 percent, boosting gross value added by almost $4 trillion in 2035.

Haas Automation, Inc., is pleased to announce the installation of the 200,000th Haas CNC machine – another major milestone in the company’s history as a machine tool builder.

There are no collaborative robots, only robots with collaborative applications. That’s according to Simon Whitton, regional division manager of North America for KUKA Robotics Corp., Shelby Township, Michigan.

Although automation is occurring in manufacturing, as it is in other sectors of the economy, the evidence does not support the idea that automation was the main cause of the sudden decline in manufacturing employment after 2000. It’s difficult to precisely pin down what was to blame, but a large body of research suggests that economists and pundits are wrong to so quickly dismiss trade and to blame machines.

Robots and the programming they rely on have certainly made huge leaps in recent years. But manufacturers have little use for jumping or cuddling machines. They need performers that can do specific production jobs. Do robots fit the bill? Will they replace all our manufacturing employees?

For its new “Manufacturing Perception Report,” Thomas surveyed more than 1,000 participants from across the U.S. to examine their awareness and views about the manufacturing industry. When respondents were asked about which industries automation will have the biggest impact on, the New York-headquartered information, data and analysis provider reported that manufacturing took the lead at 34 percent, followed by transportation (15 percent), retail (11 percent) and fast food (10 percent).