A partnership that will make cobots more accessible to the New Zealand manufacturing sector has been announced with local factory solutions specialist, Facteon beginning a collaboration with Danish group, Universal Robots.
Facteon says the move showcases its commitment to delivering world-class factory technologies for the Internet Age. Nathan Soich, Head of Marketing and New Ventures says the company is committed to making robotics accessible for manufacturers of all sizes. “Cobots are a relatively new technology for New Zealand, but we’ve already experienced significant interest. We’re looking forward to seeing how our partnership with Universal Robots will revolutionise manufacturing in a wide range of industries including the appliance, medical, pharmaceutical, automotive, food and beverage sectors. There are great opportunities for manufacturers in each of these areas to improve their operations through the integration of cobots. This is a logical first step for any facility moving towards automation.”
Acting as a second pair of hands and eyes in the factory, cobots are ‘flexible, reliable and safe’. They can be quickly reprogrammed in-house to perform a variety of production tasks such as assembly, pick and place, packaging and palletising, quality inspection, machine tending, screw driving and fastening.
Established in 2005, Universal Robots is said to be the world’s undisputed cobot leader, commercialising its first cobot in 2008. Today, more than 37,000 Universal Robots cobots can be found operating in thousands of production facilities across the globe. While New Zealand and Australia have been previously under-served in the cobot space, businesses now looking to introduce cobots into their operations should consider where in the factory the technology will best add value. Cobots have many applications so manufacturers should talk to an expert to customise a solution that’s fit-for-purpose and cost-effective, says Facteon, adding a significant number of enquiries have already been received.
Details, www.facteon.global/
