“The manufacturing sector is always challenged to cut operating costs and shorten supply cycles,” says Paul Sollewijn Gelpke, Omron’s general manager for manufacturing and supply chain in Europe and North America. “Production sites around the world are striving to improve productivity, and increased deployment of labour-saving robots is one of the solutions.
This demand has been the key driver for installing the new lines. “The production of parallel robots locally enables us to improve productivity, respond rapidly to shorter lead times and customer needs in the region,” he adds.
The lines will make Omron’s Hornet and Quattro series of parallel robots, which machine-builders and other users can use to add pick-and-place capabilities to packaging and small parts assembly projects.
Terry Hannon, chief marketing officer for Omron Adept Technologies (left), and Tom Mathias, the company’s president and CEO, at the opening of the new production lines.
The Quattro, which can pick 300 items per minute, is claimed to be the world’s fastest and most flexible parallel pick-and-place robot. It has four arms, and is said to offer a larger working envelope and a degree of manipulation not achievable using other technologies.
