WATCH: We put a robot with vision in a crowded room, with no special lighting or guarding. Here's what happened.

Next-Gen Automation Doesn't Require Guarding or Special Lighting

By Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation

Those familiar with 4D bin picking and robotic guidance will immediately recognize that the above statement is groundbreaking. 

The ultimate proof of concept just took place at the Melton Machine & Control open house in Washington, Missouri. Are you a manufacturer located in the Midwest? If so, here's why that matters. 

Watch as FPE Automation's Kurt Vaeth unsuccessfully tries to "trick" the robot into failing to perform its task. I reached him by phone a few days after the open house. "I was moving the part to show that it captures the image each time, and it can still follow the line or path for the weld." Vaeth explained, "You can set parts in front of it, and it can still detect where the weld needs to be. You don't need to have fixed coordinates. It can pull the coordinates and get the robot to do exactly what needs to be done."

Universal Robots are collaborative. That means they operate safely alongside humans with no guarding required in most applications.

Apera AI guides the robot using 4D vision technology. In a crowded room, with lighting conditions constantly changing, this type of accuracy was previously unheard of. 

Apera's Cliff Tsugawa put it this way, "We quickly identify the steel angle, parts position/orientation and guide start/path under ambient lighting. This can be done without vision expertise, and is flexible/scalable for more fields of view and parts/assemblies."

Also included: footage of our other demos and Melton Machine & Control's turnkey CoboWeld system. All examples of how you can leverage vision and robotics to streamline your operations and do more with less.

If you missed the open house, and would like to learn more, or request a demo, reach out to FPE Automation. Whether you're a welder, or have an entirely different idea of how to leverage robotics and vision in your manufacturing process, we are happy to help. 

ARTICLE: As boomers prepare to retire, addressing a shrinking labor force

Already Tired of Hearing About Labor Shortages? It's Going to Get Worse

The good news? Automation has reached a point where technical feasibility allows it to fill in the gaps. The takeaway? Automation is ready now to step up when there are too few workers to do the job. 

By Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation

There is no doubt about it. The labor force is shrinking. 

"In four years, the number of students graduating from high schools across the country will begin a sudden and precipitous decline, due to a rolling demographic aftershock of the Great Recession. Traumatized by uncertainty and unemployment, people decided to stop having kids during that period. But even as we climbed out of the recession, the birth rate kept dropping."

Source: Vox.com. November 21, 2022

As a large wave of boomers prepares to retire, there is a shrinking population entering the workforce to replace them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in manufacturing and logistics. 

Fortunately, many of the tasks involved in jobs in those crucial labor markets represent excellent opportunities for automation. Repetitive, predictable activities have been automatable for several years. Activities that include:

• Operating machinery
• Welding
• CNC machine tending
• Packaging
• Part marking
• Palletizing
• Inspection
• Quality control
• Internal logistics/part presentation/delivery

You have probably seen the thousands of case studies out there in the media. It's true that automation is keeping companies competitive. It's also making it possible for companies that have done business overseas to re-open stateside, creating jobs in the USA. 

Automation is Powerful

Managers who used to spend a portion of their day "putting out fires", no longer spend so much time addressing pain points. Automated equipment doesn't call in sick. Those same managers now report higher levels of output, better quality, and fewer errors. Labor is expensive. What might surprise you, however; the expense of all of that put together typically exceeds labor costs. 

Automation Makes Sense

For any business, cost savings, return on investment (ROI) and sustainable growth are the end results. While automation provides all of that, one factor that is often overlooked is employee satisfaction. 

"Workers who have incorporated high levels of automation into their daily tasks are happier in their jobs, more optimistic about their future career prospects and more likely to recommend their role to someone about to enter the job market, according to new research from Tradeshift."

Source: Business Wire. May 26, 2022

To thrive, a business needs to attract and retain capable and satisfied employees. As the number of those potential workers declines, it makes more sense to bridge the gap. 

In 2023, FPE Automation will be celebrating 60 years of helping companies like yours. Whether you would get more out of your automated processes, or you're just getting started, our friendly and capable team of engineers can help.

This article is not to be reproduced in whole, or in part, without express written permission from authorized parties at FPE Automation.

 

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.

Thank you for helping FPE Automation achieve prestigious Universal Robots platinum status once again!

FPE Automation is Named Winner of Multiple Universal Robots Awards

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

This week at the Universal Robots partner event, FPE Automation was recognized as one of the country's top distributors. Above, Justin Tanaka and Kurt Vaeth, both UR Product Managers, accept the prestigious honor on behalf of FPE Automation. 

The country's top salespeople were also honored. In that exclusive group of 50, an impressive three people from FPE Automation received individual awards.

Above: Bryan Bird, Universal Robots Sales Director for the Americas, presents awards to the sales engineers who have sold  25 or more robots in the last 18 months. We would like to congratulate our very own Joe Judge, Brian Einzig and John Duke. 

FPE Automation has had the honor to receive this platinum partner award for the second year in a row. We would like to give special appreciation to all of our integration partners; with special appreciation for the tireless efforts of Ryan Lause, Sales Engineering Supervisor and Certified Welding Inspector at Melton Machine & Control, who is pictured above. Also IRIS Factory Automation and Brittany Carroll, Factory Automation Specialist, and Karl Koenigsberger, Business Development Manager there. Thanks to the hard work of our employees, and of course, our valued customers. Without every one of you, this achievement would not have been possible. 

The NEW UR20 from Universal Robots packs 20kg (44 lbs.) of payload into a collaborative robot

Product Launch: Introducing the New UR20 from Universal Robots

Introducing the new UR20 from Universal Robots. 

Record-setting performance and an increased payload capacity are not the only advantages. Learn more about the new UR20 collaborative robot here.