Industry 4.0 has transformed how manufacturers think about productivity. Connected machinery, industrial Internet of Things sensors, robotics, predictive maintenance, machine vision, and artificial intelligence have enabled facilities to monitor production with a level of precision that would have seemed impossible only a decade ago. Manufacturers now collect millions of operational data points every day, allowing
DETROIT - Production companies seeking to keep up with the high demand for quality products in the market need to invest in a pick and place automation system. Unlike in the old times where pick and place was an action performed by humans manually, the current market demands cannot be met by humans performing the
SOUTHFIELD—Lawrence Technological University cut the ribbon Wednesday on a new robotics and factory automation laboratory that the companies that helped create it say is unique anywhere in the United States. “What you’re about to see behind that door is state of the art technology: world class control architecture, controller based safety, mechatronics, and the list
ANN ARBOR — The Robotic Industries Association, the Ann Arbor-based advocate for the robotics industry, announced an all-time record in 2016 for North American robot orders and shipments. During the year, 34,606 robots valued at approximately $1.9 billion were ordered in North America, representing growth of 10 percent in units over 2015. The automotive industry
GRAND RAPIDS - Dematic, a global supplier of logistics systems for the factory, warehouse and distribution center, has introduced Dematic Multishuttle Flex, an automated inventory staging buffer that is designed to accommodate cartons and totes. The Multishuttle Flex incorporates a flexible load handling device, enabling high performance storage and retrieval of variable load sizes and
HOLLAND - Factory automation equipment maker Koops Inc. broke ground on a new 40,000-square-foot plant expansion that will nearly double automation production capacity. The $4.9 million expansion to its current plant in Holland, along the Lake Michigan shore, is in response to growing global demand for automation equipment that is expected to hit $200 billion
ANN ARBOR - Spotting a glitch on the factory floor in real time - and reconfiguring around it - are the goals of a new $4 million project led by University of Michigan engineering researchers that aims to increase factory productivity and American competitiveness - and fend off cyberattacks. Modern advanced manufacturing plants hold hundreds
GRAND RAPIDS - Dematic’s North America division may soon close its manufacturing operations in Grand Rapids and move 365 jobs south of the border to another Dematic plant in Mexico. The company, known for decades as Rapistan, designs and builds automated systems for warehouses, distribution centers and other sites with material-moving needs. Rapistan first opened
