Automation in many ways can be a great help but it causes fear and worry. Some fear that machines will take over all of the jobs and push workers out of the market. The reality is that machines only do what you tell them to. That means you need ...

This time I wanted to give a bit of a glimpse into the earlier steps of a new robotic system coming together. If you have never gone through the process it can seem a bit of a challenge. I thought it might be helpful to see some of the earlier steps ...

As a change of pace I thought I would share an installation that started this week. I can not give any company details as they are a government contractor and need to keep things private. In general they are working with cast parts that are machined ...

Just about every market can find benefit in process automation. From labor reduction to improving the total time in production there is value in the automation. For some it is the need to improve part to part consistency or just the basic ...

One of the more common tasks I am asked about day to day is dealing with round tube. There is so much of it used in all manner of products its seems near every one has to deal with it in some way or to some extent. It can be a simple process or as ...

Often when I am asked about polishing I find that there are some basics that folks are not aware of. As with all things every one will have their own way and I am no different. Some people will spend 5 years polishing pipe and find a way that works ...

I often get the question of what can you automate. So I will give a few examples here of things you can as well as a few basic tips. Lets start with weld grinding. If you have people doing the welding then the weld will be a variable. This is a ...

Here we will look at an application where fabricated sinks, counters and other trim parts were finished with a robotic cell. The parts were long term items the company produces where a reduction in labor and an increase in volume were needed. Both ...

When you start to look into automation be it a finishing application, welding or any number of other processes labor tends to be at the top of the list. There are some things you should keep in mind as you go through the process. Reducing labor can ...

I received many good questions on the robot working with enclosures. To that end I wanted to provide a little more information. First it was in fact $60,000 a month between scrap and rejected parts. Those are numbers that were given to me by the ...