"There's an App for That"
TLD Software Compares Valve Performance
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Today at FPE Automation, Sunset Hills, MO: Steve Carrera, Cody Schmelzle and Kurt Vaeth work in the pneumatic lab using the MAC TLD app. |
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Today at FPE Automation, Sunset Hills, MO: Steve Carrera, Cody Schmelzle and Kurt Vaeth work in the pneumatic lab using the MAC TLD app. |
This story begins with an independent contractor who was hired to do an energy audit for a large, local plant. The contractor was familiar with MAC pulse valves, and their reputation for energy savings and efficiency.
Art Gesell has been working with engineers at this particular plant, a large manufacturer of glass bottles, for quite some time on other projects.
As part of the energy audit, the contractor asked Art to present MAC pulse valve technology. Art did a demo using the MAC pulse valve animation and pulse valve demo case for the group. They were impressed with the technology.
The contractor works often with the local energy company in Illinois on energy-saving projects. If a certain amount of energy can be saved, the energy utility will reimburse the cost of the components. That had a big impact on the ROI of the project to the customer.
After initiating a plan with the customer, Art and FPE Automation's Scott Massie (FPE MAC Valve Specialist) installed the first nine PV03 valves. After they ran for a few months, the customer was so impressed with the cleaning pulse, lack of maintenance issues, and no leakage, that they decided to change over the entire batch house, where the extremely fine glass powder is very tough on diaphragms and filters.
The next step was to come in and audit this area of the plant. Justin Yochem (MAC Project Engineer) joined Art and Scott on the audit. They are replacing 74 additional valves in the batch house. Later, the group was then informed that there are another 83 pulse valves in the mold shop and machine repair area that they would like to swap out.
MAC pulse valves: efficiency and savings that speaks for itself.
By: Sandia Harrison
This month, FPE Automation is happy to announce more wins on PHD Incorporated's Top Performer Award list than ever before. FPE made the list a record-setting eleven times!
Packaging machinery manufacturers are a big part of this sudden surge in award-winning innovations. I interviewed my colleague, FPE Automation's Joe Judge, an instrumental member of the team behind these engineering advances in the packaging vertical. Here's what he had to say.
"PHD's robotic end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT) was used on high-speed industrial robots. We know that packaging machinery has evolved, and is evolving. Robotics solved some pain points and made the processes more efficient. These new innovations represent next-generation packaging equipment. The solution included both standard and custom products."
Engineering has to meet certain, strict criteria to be award-winning. This solution certainly did.
This manufacturer was creating robot cells, with two robots per cell. However, the initial gripping tooling wasn't performing well.
FPE Automation presented PHD's EOAT as a solution. We were able to document that it would:
According to Joe, there were slightly-lower cost options out there, but the customer ultimately selected PHD because the EOAT, which is such a critical part of the process, performed reliably, in addition to all of the above advantages.
If OEM machinery is your business, we'd like to help you optimize, modernize, streamline and work more efficiently. There has never been a charge for an assessment. Feel free to reach out to us with your thoughts. We'll discuss your ideas and concepts with you and come up with a plan.
Don't automate to survive.
Automate to thrive.
Trust FPE Automation.
Here's why.
Have you found that virtually everyone in our industry has a tendency to talk up their technical expertise? This is for a few reasons. First and foremost, automation demands it. Solutions need to be effective and precise. Accomplishing that takes a great deal of technical prowess. You can't afford to place your trust in a partner who will not come through for you. There is too much at stake.
However, if you have ever started to dig deeper into some of the companies out there peddling solutions like these, sadly, you may have discovered thin market coverage & job vacancies, inexperienced employees, too-heavy reliance on partner support, and not enough in-house expertise. Industry is changing. Too often nowadays, there are too many questions... and too few answers.
Not at FPE Automation. We have an entire team of expert engineers ready to assist you. Companies that can say the same are few and far between.
We like to say we "live and work in the community we serve". The best part about this outstanding team? They're local to you, and have the ability to stop by and help.
Supply chain headaches are nothing new, and today's manufacturing landscape is more difficult than ever to navigate.
While FPE Automation can't singlehandedly solve a global problem, we can tell you that we have been a stocking distributor since 1963. SCARA, 6-axis and Collaborative Robots are in stock and ready to ship at FPE Automation today. This alone sets us apart from the competition.
Even with recent growth and the addition of several new team members, FPE Automation is able to boast an incredible average of 11.4 years on the job. We have a whopping 25 individuals who have been employed at FPE for 10 or more years! Our team makes FPE Automation a great place to work. Our low turnover means you're not a stranger. Our people can get to know your people... and your business.
At FPE Automation, we recognize that a cookie-cutter approach to automation is usually a recipe for failure. No two companies are alike. We discovered long ago that a true partnership means leveraging your strengths, as well as ours. Take a look at our Handshake Solutions concept. Put simply, it places the options in your hands.
Why is this a successful, growing area of our business? Simply put, it is what you require to get automation projects successfully off the ground. What is it? Our goal is for Handshake Solutions to be exactly what you need it to be, no more and no less. For the latest, catch what's trending at: #fpehandshakesolutions
It may go without saying, but this write-up wouldn't be complete without the highest accolades to the manufacturers that we call valued partners. All the expertise in the world won't matter if products are sub-standard and fail. FPE Automation is proud to have established award-winning, long-term partnerships with brands you trust.
Let's face it: in engineered applications, sales-y talk is cheap. Success is entirely based on measurable results. We know this. Our customers know it too, and so do our supplier partners.
This month, PHD Inc. recognized FPE Automation for their efforts in three separate applications. One was the manufacturing of large, heavy items. Another involved robot cells and pick and place. The part was small in this instance, the robots were picking up castings. The third was in the packaging machinery sector.
New Devices Are Revolutionizing Fixed Scanning and Machine Vision
With demand for manufacturing production, quality, and supply chain performance at all-time highs, there’s some good news on the way with a big change in the world of industrial automation.
More than ever, companies need to boost high-quality output
and do it as efficiently as possible, with minimal labor. Thankfully, it’s getting
a lot easier due to a major shift in fixed scanning and machine vision
technology.
However, there’s often been one major obstacle to realizing
the benefits of fixed scanning and machine vision, and that’s complexity.
But all of that is changing with Zebra’s entry into the fixed scanning and machine vision industry with a groundbreaking new approach to these technologies. And at FPE Automation, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Zebra to bring this streamlined solution to industrial operations across North America.
As a global leader in barcoding, data capture, identification, and sensor technologies since 1969, Zebra has developed an unparalleled reputation in helping companies automate more processes and increase supply chain traceability, quality, and visibility. But recently Zebra turned its sights to fixed industrial scanning and machine vision, working with leading manufacturers and technology partners to develop a better way to do both.
The end result is Zebra's new singular hardware and software platform for both fixed scanning and machine vision, which offers the easiest setup and integration of any solution on the market. And its powerful data capture and vision-enabled capabilities are poised to compete with the leaders of the industrial automation industry.
Our team at FPE Automation has been working with Zebra on rolling out this exciting new family of solutions, and we’re already working with our clients to help them take advantage of Zebra's game-changing innovation in their automation and inspection jobs.
The first big difference with Zebra's new hardware is that it can deliver either fixed scanning or machine vision from the same device. In fact, you can start with a fixed scanner, such as Zebra's FS20 or FS40, and later unlock its machine vision sensing capabilities with a simple software license upgrade.
Speaking of software, you can set up and configure jobs with these devices using a single software application. Zebra's Aurora software provides all the tools, settings, and guided tutorials you need to set up even the most sophisticated fixed scanning or machine vision jobs—all in a simple, user-friendly, and modern interface.
All settings and configurations can be modified with sliders and radio buttons, and you get access to image auto-tuning and other features to simplify setup, along with guided tutorials and videos to help you learn as you go.
For example, with Zebra's Object Locate, you can rapidly and accurately locate objects right out of the box with optimized settings, regardless of orientation, position, or other variances. With its QuickDraw feature, you can draw a box around the area you want to inspect, right on the image, and then choose and configure your preferred image capture tool.This means beginners can get a fixed scanning or machine vision job up and running quickly. But experts can also easily access all the powerful analysis tools and settings they need, including filters, polarizers, pattern recognition, edge detection, pixel counting, a blogs tool, and much more.
Another big advantage of Zebra's hardware is that you can capture up to 16 different images of a single target, each with its own image settings. You can conduct more inspections and scan and check more data with fewer devices. There are multiple exposure settings for targets that require different lighting, and there are multiple focus plane settings for objects at different distances.
In addition, Zebra supports all the lensing and optics options you might need, including liquid lenses; C-mount lenses; internal lighting with blue, white, red, infrared (IR) or multi-color; and external lighting options including front, back, and low-angle illumination.
Zebra's devices also provide dual-Ethernet connectivity, so you can send instructions to your devices through one Ethernet connection and send images for cloud storage, sharing, and analysis with the other. You can connect to virtually any network, system, or hardware device with industry standard protocols including TCP/IP, Serial, Profinet/Modbus, and CC Link.
Additionally, since Zebra's devices also have USB-C connectivity, you can output your results directly to a display monitor, without having to buy and set up a separate industrial PC for this purpose.
If all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, don’t worry. We have experts at FPE Automation who can guide you to the right solutions and help you set up your jobs with all the right tools, settings, and hardware for the results you need.
Plus, with the simplicity of one hardware and software platform to learn and use, and the ability to capture more data and images with less setup time and fewer devices, Zebra's fixed scanning and machine vision solutions will help you learn and get up to speed faster. You can quickly start to set up and configure jobs without outside assistance or support. But, if you need it, we’re still there to help.
For companies that need a simpler, easier, and more affordable way to automate data-driven or image-based production and quality assurance processes, Zebra's new technologies are the solution.
To learn more about Zebra's revolutionary new approach to fixed scanning and machine vision, download this brochure to learn more about these devices and Zebra's Aurora software. Also, feel free to connect with the industrial automation experts at FPE Automation to get more details and answers to your questions.
About FPE Automation
As leaders in industrial automation since 1963, FPE Automation has decades of extensive and proven experience in helping companies automate more processes, boost quality output, and gain a competitive edge through the power of technology. Visit us now to learn how we can help your business.
Jake Hall, aka #TheManufacturingMillennial put together this video highlighting how RC+ Express from Epson is eliminating a learning curve. This puts automation within reach of countless more manufacturers around the country and around the world. As a result, more manufacturers will benefit from the world's most popular SCARA robot. Here are some reasons why you should!
Jake Hall reports:
Last year the annual 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟐𝟖% 𝐢𝐧 𝐍.𝐀. and for the second year in a row, 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 the automotive sector. As robots become more highly sought after by smaller manufacturers, we need to find solutions that reduce the risk of integration.
A solution from Epson Robots called 𝐑𝐂+ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 helps machine builders, integrators, and end-users integrate robots at a very low learning curve by having a No-Code, easy-to-use teaching environment.
𝐑𝐂+ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 is a free download virtual software that uses block-style programming with premade templates and a built-in 3D simulator for visualizing.
With over 20 different robot models to choose from and the ability to set up a robot program in minutes, this can help get first-time robot users and also veterans in the industry up and running quickly.
Download RC+ Express for Free
Follow Epson Robotics on LinkedIn
Make sure to register for the Association for Advancing Automation webinar “𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 – 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥” featuring Scott Marsic from Epson Robots next week here: https://www.automate.org/webinars/why-automate-manufacturing-considerations-in-todays-new-normal
A local manufacturer needed a cylinder solution that would hold up in a rugged production environment. The non-rotating rod cylinder they were using previously was obsolete. PHD had many available options. None were a direct drop-in functional replacement. So, Steve and the talented PHD applications team went to work designing a PHD custom-engineered solution that would meet all the criteria. The result? The customer was able to keep their equipment updated and maximize production uptime. The team also expressed a need to have this critical cylinder in stock to avoid any downtime. So FPE Automation and PHD Inc. worked with them so they can keep some on hand at all times. Congratulations to Steve Kocmond, and thanks to PHD for the accolades!