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SUS Company, a Japanese provider of aluminum frames and die-cast aluminum parts for the automotive trade, has deployed a collection of ABB’s YuMi dual-armed collaborative robots. SUS Company says that ABB’s robots are enabling it to reshore its manufacturing and deal with challenges introduced by workforce shortages.
ABB’s dual-arm YuMi, the IRB 14000, is a part of ABB’s YuMi line of robots that the Zurich-based firm launched in 2015. Every arm has 7 axes, and ABB says it designed the system particularly for manufacturing industries. It has a attain of round 1.8 ft (.56 m), and might raise as much as 83.8 lbs (38 kg).
SUS Company sought out an automation provider to assist it return to home manufacturing in Shizuoka, Japan. The corporate says that reshoring will assist it to higher cope with disruptions to the worldwide provide chain in recent times. The repetitive nature of the manufacturing course of, paired with mounting labor shortages, has made it tough for SUS Company to recruit and retain ample staff.
“Reshoring is more and more considered as a strategy to deal with the challenges of disruptive provide chains and uncertainty, however it might probably introduce complexities of its personal,” Joerg Reger, managing director of ABB Robotics Automotive Enterprise Line, stated. “Our vary of versatile automation options might help resolve these, and we’re delighted to see that SUS is benefiting from important time-savings, enhanced manufacturing effectivity, and the flexibility to shortly adapt to altering provide eventualities. This demonstrates how automation is now not the protect of huge OEMs alone.”
The consequences of the YuMi robots
Since implementing the YuMi robots, SUS Company has seen a discount in meeting time and elevated productiveness by 20%. Moreover, the YuMi cobots have elevated flexibility in response to fluctuations in demand. SUS Company expects to attain a payback on its funding inside two years.
“The robots have taken on monotonous, repetitive jobs, enabling staff to be reassigned to extra rewarding duties equivalent to operation administration. The brand new system has additionally made it attainable to function at night time with fewer staff, with the variety of devoted meeting machines in operation lowered from 11 to 5,” Akihiro Taki, crew supervisor of the die-casting crew at SUS Company’s Shizuoka website, stated.
ABB developed the automated system utilizing its RobotStudio simulation software program. The corporate used RobotStudio to design and optimize the operation in a digital house forward of deployment in the actual world.
RobotStudio verified that YuMi’s seven axes of motion per arm had been able to replicating the complicated twisting actions wanted throughout the meeting course of. Its correct calculations for achievable manufacturing volumes additionally made it simple for SUS Company to make knowledgeable choices about its funding.
SUS Company is now investigating including additional cells for different merchandise and automating different processes.
In September, ABB introduced it would make investments $280 million in a brand new robotics campus in Västerås, Sweden that can function the hub for ABB Robotics’ choices in Europe. ABB plans to start out building on the brand new campus within the first quarter of 2024 and be accomplished by the top of 2026. This new facility will enhance ABB’s manufacturing capability for its collaborative and industrial robotic arms by 50% and allow it to higher serve the European market.
