Day: 30 September 2019

From palletisation to packaging, picking to production lines, Industry 4.0 has arrived and the number of applications where robots and humans are collaborating is rising. Technology is constantly evolving and operations are looking to boost efficiency by integrating innovative, high-performing equipment that can add real value.

KUKA is a world leader in the production of industrial robots. The company was originally founded in 1898 and focused on producing affordable illumination, before diversifying its operations throughout the 20th century. In 1973 KUKA developed the world’s first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes, establishing itself as a robotics pioneer.

Since 2004, KUKA has focused its business on providing cutting-edge automation solutions and now boasts a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest and strongest 6-axis industrial robot. Though its home is in Augsburg, Germany, the global company now has several headquarters across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

KUKA offers tailor-made automation solutions for a wide variety of industries, including automotive, e-commerce, consumer goods, and electronics. From industrial robot systems, to a complete production system, KUKA believe there is a solution to be found for every customer.

Yale and KUKA: the perfect fit
Recently, the Italian headquarters of KUKA integrated Yale solutions into its Turin warehouse. As companies who both put the needs of the customer at the centre of what they do, and have the flexibility to provide full solutions or integrate with existing ones, the synergy between the approach of KUKA and Yale proved to be a natural fit.

KUKA required a consistent yet flexible operation; in its warehouse are a variety of shapes and sizes of automated solutions, from small and lightweight collaborative robots to large and industrial robots weighing an impressive 4500kg.

Any materials handling equipment therefore had to be adaptable enough to handle a range of loads, as well as operate efficiently on a daily basis with minimum downtime. KUKA turned to trusted Yale dealer Unicar to create the optimum solution.

Yale solution for the world of robotics
Unicar has been a Yale dealer in Italy since 1992 and today the company has three branches and a network of 29 local dealerships. Unicar aims to offer customers innovative solutions tailored to meet the needs of each application. For KUKA, the solution comprises Yale ERP30VL and ERP40VM electric counterbalance forklifts.

Due to the weight of the parts being handled on site, KUKA opted for both medium and heavy duty equipment. VM Series electric trucks are built for intensive use and capable of handling multiple loads, making them ideally suited to heavy-duty applications. Both the VM and VL Series are powered by 80 volt batteries and offer the same performance as internal combustion engine models, all the while, delivering excellent durability and reliability.

Superior ergonomics and productivity are central to the Yale philosophy. The Yale forklifts supplied to KUKA come with a host of ergonomic features designed to optimise operator comfort and boost productivity. A full suspension seat, adjustable armrest with built-in hydraulic controls, and low whole-body vibration compartment help reduce operator fatigue, while a ‘head up’ display keeps the operator’s field of vision clear and provides truck operating information at a glance.

When it comes to performance features, the energy balance (e-Balance) of performance, manoeuvrability, and battery shift life can all be matched to the needs of the application, increasing productivity and throughput and significantly reducing the cost per pallet moved. An extended steer axle with continuous stability enhancement offers increased articulation, allowing the truck to manoeuvre easily in narrow working aisles and provide maximum operating comfort even on uneven surfaces.

“We sell several hundred robots a year and our recently expanded premises now house a showroom and KUKA College Training Centre along with our sales and service support teams. KUKA has a logistics and automation subsidiary, Swisslog, which focuses on robotic and data-driven intralogistics and KUKA uses this internal expertise to help choose suppliers who are able to deliver the same high levels of safety, effectiveness, and productivity as we do,” said Alberto Pellero, Director of Strategy and Marketing at KUKA Italy.

The UK’s leading provider of fulfilment services and technology, fulfilmentcrowd, has accelerated its own international expansion, as well as that of its eCommerce clients, with the opening of a new partner centre in the USA.

The modern 20,000 sq. ft. facility is strategically located in Los Angeles, within easy reach of west coast air, road and sea hubs.

With an established and proven business model in Europe, entry into the world’s second largest eCommerce market signals the Lancashire-based company’s ambitions, as sales & marketing director, Lee Thompson, explains: “US online sales in 2018 reached $500bn and that figure is forecasted to grow by 45% to a whopping $725bn over the next five years. It is our largest export market and to make best advantage, our customers need to be ‘in country’ to ship for next day delivery and to offer low-cost, fast returns.

“The LA facility operates on the same platform and management systems as our European centres, which means clients can run a world-scale business, across multiple channels, currencies and locations from a single login.”

Whilst technical operations will continue to be managed from the company’s UK headquarters, fulfilmentcrowd Inc joins the group structure and will be responsible for all operations in North America.

The Canal Place centre is the ninth to ‘join the crowd’, but it will not be the last, as Lee Thompson continues: “Country-by-country we are creating a world network and business model that, in terms of scale and accessibility, is unprecedented in the eCommerce fulfilment sector.

“Our customers are entering new territories with system control, mitigated risk and confidence, supported by the expertise of our partners ‘on the ground’ who reciprocate daily across the globe – for example, our German centre is currently helping a US client to enter the local market, whilst three European clients already have stock en route to our new site in Los Angeles. This is truly 24/7 eCommerce without bounds.”

Leading UK conveyor manufacturer, Advance Automated Systems, has announced that it has joined Interroll’s Rolling On Interroll (ROI) programme.

As a worldwide leading producer of high-quality key products and services for material handling, the Interroll Group established the programme four years ago. Aimed at selected Interroll customers with whom a long-standing business relationship exists, the programme seeks to create a climate where best practices can be shared. Now with 96 members globally covering 39 countries, the ongoing ambition of Rolling On Interroll is to make a strong statement for quality and leadership in the material handling industry.

Commenting on joining the ROI community, Advance Automated System’s Bryn Roberts, said: “Advance has developed a strong reputation and presence in the UK conveyor and automation industry, now one of the largest and most flexible manufacturers. The inclusion in the global ROI group gives us strength, depth and reach that we could never have as a single entity.

“In the past potential customers may not have considered Advance as a partner able to offer products, support and expertise globally. With a new approach it is time to change this thinking, together with the ROI team and Interroll, we are now stronger together than any single partner we currently work with.”

Hilton Campbell, Interroll Ltd’s Managing Director, added: “We are delighted to have a strong and trusted partner like Advance Automated Systems join our international Rolling On Interroll programme. There has been a long-standing commercial relationship between both companies, which the programme will strengthen further. Advance specialise in conveyor manufacture, specifically bespoke and turnkey solutions, it is a pleasure to see the quality seal on their systems.”

Printronix Auto ID debuted at Labelexpo Europe the RFID version of its T4000 thermal barcode printer.

This new, affordable and compact T4000 complements the company’s expanding range of high performance RFID printers. But where it differs, is that it additionally prints and encodes on-metal RFID tags as well as standard labels.

This distinctive feature makes it ideal for almost any RFID application, including asset tagging of tools and equipment used by healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, IT, and service yard professionals.

“On-metal tags typically come with a foam insulator and metal foil backing, which makes them incompatible with most standard RFID printer/encoders,” explains Neil Baker, Printronix Auto ID’s Sales Manager UK, Ireland, Benelux & South Africa. “But because the T4000 RFID printer was designed from scratch, it was engineered to handle such media with ease.”

And because accuracy is critical in every application, the T4000 will back-up and completely overstrike, and then reprint, any RFID labels that fail to encode properly.

The T4000 can be ordered with or without RFID capability. Its small footprint and compact size ensure it can be housed in areas where space is limited but where enterprise-level performance and RFID printing are essential. Despite its small stature, the T4000 packs a powerful performance, easily printing up to 5,000 labels or tags a day at an impressive ten inches per second.