.
McLean, Va. (June 11, 2024) 鈥� To expand an automation strategy or take the first step on an automation journey, offers contract manufacturers, job shops, and OEMs the opportunity to explore thousands of innovative and ready-to-deploy solutions to address their workforce, quality, and efficiency issues.
Held at McCormick Place in Chicago on Sept. 9-14, IMTS 2024 will feature the new in the North Building, which features companies specializing in robots, collaborative robots (cobots), motion control, data management, and automation integration. Additionally, exhibits throughout IMTS will demonstrate automated solutions for CNC machining, additive manufacturing, vision systems, metrology, tooling, workholding, abrasive machining, gear generation, parts handling and cleaning, and other manufacturing technologies.
鈥淎utomation is omnipresent at IMTS because exhibitors know industry needs automation technologies to leverage worker productivity and boost business profitability,鈥� says Peter R. Eelman, chief experience officer, AMT 鈥� The Association For Manufacturing 都灵体育直播, which owns and produces IMTS. 鈥淚MTS provides an unmatched opportunity to make head-to-head evaluations and discover how easy it has become to deploy these systems. Visitors will also discover hundreds of new ways to incorporate automation, including functions they couldn鈥檛 imagine would be automated.鈥�
Ian Stringer, vice president of data strategy at AMT, says that 鈥渢he push toward greater adoption of industrial automation is influenced by an aging workforce and geopolitical uncertainties that have increased defense spending and led to a revitalization of the U.S. supply chain.鈥�
Stringer notes that capital intensity (the amount of capital utilized per unit of labor) has surged nearly 12% from 2017 to 2023, according to the March 21 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Stringer, this figure 鈥渋s solid evidence鈥� of a significant shift toward more capital-intensive and labor-efficient manufacturing processes facilitated by the automation solutions shown at IMTS 2024.
鈥淔rom reshoring initiatives and workspace optimization to production capacity and workforce shortages, multiple issues are often at play when companies are looking to invest in automation technology,鈥� says Doug Burnside, vice president of North American sales and marketing for Yaskawa Motoman (IMTS booth ). 鈥淔or smaller companies, collaborative palletizing and welding are two easy options for first steps into automation. The systems deploy rapidly and have user-friendly pendants.鈥�
Turnkey Inspection Cell
Historically, most metrology solutions required intensive manual input. For a fully automated execution of measurement sequences, ZEISS (IMTS booth ) will showcase the ScanBox 5130, which features an ATOS 5 high-speed blue light 3D sensor mounted on a FANUC robot arm. Users with little to no robotics experience can easily plan and program measuring sequences for the ScanBox using the Virtual Measuring Room software module. With a complete, detailed, geometric digital twin of the physical part, users can compare the data against the CAD model, visualize geometric dimensioning and tolerancing deviations, and display inspection results for detailed trend and statistical process control analysis.
Cobots, Vision, and AI
Collaborative robots (cobots) are a true workforce multiplier and will be demonstrated in conjunction with tooling and workholding, welding, metrology, machining, part handling, and scores of other applications at IMTS.
According to Will Healy, global industry leader 鈥� welding at Universal Robotics (UR) (IMTS booth ), a cobot can arrive on a loading dock in the morning and be assisting with production by noon because cobot providers have 鈥渁 hyper focus on simplifying the cobot integration experience and improving the cobot operator experience.鈥�
Today, machine operators (not robot programmers) can program and staff multiple pieces of equipment, boosting machine utilization numbers and shortening changeover time between parts.
With these factors, shops can now run more parts per machine with overnight runs or lights-out manufacturing, boost shop competitiveness, and help company leaders win new business.
鈥淎t IMTS 2024, conversations will center around how artificial intelligence and cobots come together to bring new levels of usability and productivity to the shop floor,鈥� adds Healy. 鈥淎s an example of applications that were challenging to automate in the recent past, we will demonstrate how a UR20e cobot can pick a wider variety of parts with an unprecedented reliability.鈥�
This advance occurred through a partnership between UR and Siemens (IMTS booth ) that utilizes Siemens鈥� deep learning-based vision software, called SIMATIC Robot Pick AI, and Zivid鈥檚 M130 3D camera.
Generative AI Innovation
As manufacturers embrace automation, they also need to explore the transformative power of generative AI. Google Cloud (IMTS booth ) delivers AI and machine learning solutions to unlock untapped potential and drive innovation through data-driven insights and intelligent automation. Google Cloud can help IMTS visitors understand where and how to apply AI to product design, research, production, supply chain, customer service, and other manufacturing processes.
System Solutions
As part of the increase in automation, exhibitors in the Metal Removal Sector will demonstrate production cells (e.g., not just stand-alone products) and collaborate with other exhibitors to deliver turnkey solutions.
鈥淵ou simply can鈥檛 talk about the advances in automation and machining without talking about them together, and IMTS is where everyone comes together,鈥� says Scott Harms, president of MetalQuest Unlimited. 鈥淔or example, at IMTS 2022, we committed to the machining and automation strategy used to fulfill a new contract in a conference room above the OKUMA booth, where our FANUC representative was also present.鈥� (Okuma will be in IMTS booth , and FANUC will be in IMTS booth .)
At IMTS 2022, advances in vision systems were central to MetalQuest鈥檚 purchase decision, which featured three horizontal machining centers and three robots. A robot equipped with FANUC鈥檚 3D vision-based bin-picking technology picked out parts that had been randomly dumped into a bin. The first robot then presented the part to the other robots, which then loaded them into the HMCs.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty cutting edge, even for a system integrator,鈥� adds Harms.
Quick Wins
For automation without the expertise of a third-party system integrator or that won