Tying it all together: The last steps before a new robot cell hits your production floor

Making Automation a Reality

Feature article by: Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation, Inc. 

To set the scene, I'll just say that Pack Expo was... packed! Pun intended. The foot traffic at this year's Pack Expo trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago was unusually heavy. That's great news for businesses! It's also nice that people are feeling comfortable enough to venture out in this post-COVID world. It was good to see everyone. 

How to Make Trade Show Attendance Pay Off

The Kawasaki Robotics booth at Pack Expo 2022

Walking by booths like the one for Kawasaki Robotics (pictured here), you can't help being impressed. The engineering that went into these displays is incredible. All of us recognize that it's an exciting time in industrial automation. We're in the midst of a true revolution. 

Every time a new trade show takes place, the technology is even more impressive. Automation cell applications have become more standardized. They are consistent and reliable. In short, they work, and the payoff to having them in your workspace is substantial. Now, more than ever, you can't afford not to automate. 

The question then, is how do bring what you saw at the show to your place of business? 

Exploring How These Demos are Made

FPE Automation and Rocketfarm A/S made this palletizing demo a reality for PIAB.

Companies like Universal Robots, Epson, Teledyne Dalsa, Zebra Technologies, Piab, Panasonic and Canon make world-class products, among the best in the business. But they don't operate in a vacuum (pun intended). They need additional components and engineering to pull it all together into a working cell. That's where FPE Automation comes in. We take products out of the box and transform them into production-ready, functioning systems that fit your specific needs.

So, when our partners need to demonstrate exactly how their products can be utilized, they often rely on FPE Automation. At a trade show, all eyes are on you. A demo absolutely can't fail. Our partners know they can rely on us when the pressure is on. 

That's why we are proud to have been a part of major trade show demos for several years. For example, recently at the Automate show, we were honored to be asked to participate in the Panasonic booth. There, we displayed a cobot bin picking, vision/data reading and laser-marking display. Over the past few years, FPE Automation has been honored to be invited to create in-booth demos for Universal Robots, Canon, PHD, and many more, giving our local business a presence at many national shows. If you missed us, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or even on TikTok, to catch an upcoming national or local show date. 

When a System Can't Fail, Partners Turn to FPE Automation

Our partners know they can trust FPE Automation to make their automation goals a reality. You can too. You can call our team of automation engineers when you're ready to implement what you saw at the trade show. Whether it's machine tending, palletizing, quality inspection, part marking or just about anything else... we will customize it to work for you. 

One of the smartest ways to leverage a collaborative robot

Machine Tending with a Collaborative Robot

Feature article by: Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation, Inc. 

If you ask most people, they would likely define machine tending as loading or unloading parts from a machine like the one in the background here. That's correct, of course, but it doesn't end there. Machine tending can also include transferring items to post-processing stations, and other material handling tasks. 

If you still have a human standing by, handling most of those tasks, implementing a collaborative robot (cobot) could be a real game-changer for your operations team. 

The benefits? A cobot works tirelessly, around the clock, with unparalleled accuracy. And that employee you currently have performing mundane tasks? You can free them up to do more important things. That's where your productivity will significantly increase. More than likely, so will that individual's job satisfaction. 

Collaborative robots can help you fill production orders quickly and accurately - in other words, ensure your company's ongoing success in today's competitive landscape. 

If you'd like more information about collaborative robot machine tending, we can help! FPE Automation is a Universal Robots Platinum Partner. Contact us to request a demo or consultation.

FPE Automation is rethinking the way we recycle old equipment, and it shows that one person can have a big impact

Julie Pearson Heads Up the FPE Automation Equipment Recycling Program

By Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation, Inc. 

With technology and automation growing at unprecedented rates, the tendency is to give more thought to implementations than to recycling. While the life span of the products FPE Automation provides is exceptionally long, nothing lasts forever. What happens to obsolete or non-functioning electronic items?

At FPE Automation, one very special individual asked herself that question. 

Meet Julie. 

Several years ago, Julie Pearson had a vision. She recognized that if we don't properly discard the equipment we no longer need, it could end up in a place that was not good for the environment. At all of FPE Automation's locations, we already had the typical recycling bins in place. So, cans, bottles, cardboard and other items were already being discarded responsibly. Julie wondered what was going to happen to the unneeded electronics. 

Although it was not part of Julie's job description, she went above and beyond to conceptualize, then bring to life, a robust equipment recycling program for FPE Automation. 

Thousands of pounds of obsolete or broken equipment later, the program thrives here. 

FPE Automation is a local, family-owned business. We, along with our friends and families, live and work in the community. Protecting the environment around us is important to us, so we can't thank Julie enough for her efforts. 

#fpegivesback #corporaterecyclingprograms #recycling #protectingtheenvironment 

FPE Automation breaks records to become Tolomatic distributor of the year

FPE Automation is Awarded Tolomatic Distributor of the Year

Adam Toles, Tolomatic's Managing Director,  presented Joey Bardos, President, FPE Automation, with the Tolomatic Distributor of the Year award in Chicago on October 4, 2022. 

Andy Zaske, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Tolomatic, accompanied Toles to Chicago to present the award. "We had a great day celebrating with FPE Automation in Chicago", Zaske said, "they are our ‘Distributor of the Year’ for 2021 and also set an all-time sales record for a Tolomatic distributor… ever! A Great Partnership!" 

In response, Joey Bardos thanked Zaske, Toles, Dave Schmidt, Sr. Regional Sales Manager, Paul Carlson, CEO, and the rest of the team at Tolomatic,  "A decades-long and continually growing partnership…"

Tolomatic has been manufacturing precision linear actuators & linear motion control products since 1954. Their commitment to producing only top-quality items sets them apart, which is why so many companies prefer Tolomatic products. It makes sense. Achievements like these are not possible in the engineering world unless the end result is measurable reliability. 

FPE Automation's team members regularly make the trip up to Minnesota to attend Tolomatic training. 

All of us at FPE Automation would like to thank our partners at Tolomatic for their excellent technical support and of course their superior products. Both are key components of our record-breaking year. We would also like to thank our customers for their loyalty. We would also like to thank the FPE Automation application team for their dedicated service, which is also an essential part of an achievement like this one. 

CONGRATULATIONS to all!