Getting the Most From Your Robot Investment

Anthony Gillespie - Territory Sales Manager, SCHUNK

Optimizing machining processes, improving output, and maximizing spindle utilization should be primary concerns for all leaders in a machine shop, and investing in robotics has proven, time and time again, to be an effective way of meeting these concerns. While justifying the investments to automation can be easy with high-batch-size machining, high-mix manufacturing often requires changing out in tooling and workholding that can quickly eat away at productivity. To ensure maximum output and a rapid return on investment, industrial and collaborative robots need to be quick to deploy, straightforward, and have the ability to adapt to changing jobs quickly. This presentation will serve to demonstrate how EOATs are advancing to allow flexibility and rapid changeovers in machining processes. Successful automation has to be considered from both the robot wrist and the machine table. Workholding automation also has to be flexible to make the complete working machine ready to adapt to the next challenge.

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