Boosting Factory Automation Productivity

Boosting Factory Automation Productivity

In the factory automation space, productivity is much more than an imperative management concept; it is a scalable tool that drives employees and processes to be functioning at their best. In order to keep employees on track and enable goals to be met in the workplace, fine-tuning processes and running a ‘tight ship’ as far as time management is concerned is considered best practice.

As far as work is concerned, understanding where to start is the first, and often, most difficult step. Understand what may set your company back, whether it be a worn down motor (such as a FANUC CNC Motor) not performing up-to-par, or a poorly-maintained Servo Amp (such as a FANUC CNC Servo Amp).  Missing expectations due to a faulty machine is avoidable, as seen in this article focusing on Maintaining Automation Machine Tools.

To ensure your teams’ insights aren’t hindered, consider documenting priority-oriented processes such as customer service, client retention, and cutting operation costs, that way, more focus can be put toward improving workflow, coaching employees and pinpointing other areas that could be improved on. Take industry benchmarks into consideration; they can be used as a point of reference to determine if an area can be improved in, or if it’s already up-to-par. Along with documenting the aforementioned processes, keeping track of progress and growth can also aid in fine-tuning.

In order to remain on the same page with employees, ask for their buy-in and try to understand where they’re coming from. They may help shed light on problematic areas such as why certain departments aren’t working as closely together as they could be, or if downtime could be minimized by having two departments working together more effectively. By making employees feel valued and trusted, a company is less likely to run into honesty issues, communication issues and/or issues with collaboration. The foundation for productive operations starts with an honest, well-communicating team. Teams need to have an in-depth understanding of where they’re expected to add value and, of course, what the company is working toward as a whole. Eliminating clutter in order to have a well-focused and productive team is an achievement that most of those in the factory machine automation space don’t lose sight of. MRO Electric and Supply has new and refurbished FANUC CNC parts available. We also offer repair pricing. For more information, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

These days, there are shortcuts and tools for essentially any and every niche. Many of those in the machine and factory automation space are focusing on robotics (see FANUC Robotics parts) to explore ways to automate processes in hope of enhancing productivity. Be sure to stay ‘in the loop’ when it comes to tools that could enhance one’s productivity through collaboration, etc.

Gathering Information Before Considering a Repair

Downtime is inevitable when it comes to machine automation. When production stops, orders will likely stack up quickly, hitting start on the ‘profits lost’ clock. After the failed part is identified, many machine automation professionals would lean towards shipping the flawed part to get serviced as soon as humanly possible. While MRO Electric and Supply appreciates the business, we want to ensure our customers are as well-informed as possible and able to fix issues of their own, is able to.

By grouping observations together and looking at them closely,  many of those in the machine automation space may find that the issue can be fixed internally, rather than sending a part out to another party. Be sure to press the in-house employees for details, as someone on the clock may have witnessed the failure first-hand and would be able to provide more intimate and valuable insight as far as what may have happened. Any way to avoid a future issue is worth exploring!

As many know, factory automation machines consist of several interconnected parts and components. Because of this, it’s important not to overlook related issues that have occurred or may occur. If a drive (such as a FANUC Robotics Drive)  were to fail, best practice would be to send it along with the motor it’s connected with to preventative maintenance to be checked together. By consulting with the machines’ operators, you may find that other parts could be sent to preventative maintenance along with motor (such as a FANUC CNC motor)  and drive. Keep in mind, certified experts will likely be able to point machine details out that others may not recognize or think of. Nobody wants to run into an issue, fix said issue, and run into it again, due to lack of attention to detail.

Whether you have only two wires to unhook or twelve hundred, document everything. When you uninstall the damaged unit, label your wires. Be sure what you are using is sturdy and will remain affixed. Do not use tape that will slip off with grease or dust. Also, take before, during and after pictures of the operation. These pictures can save you from a tremendous headache later on. Also, when possible, make sure to save any parameters and record any settings before the unit has been taken out of service.

By documenting all of the parts or wires that had to be disassembled as specifically as possible, you would likely be avoiding many headaches. Nobody wants to disassemble a section of a machine, later to discover a wire or bolt is misplaced, which would lead to dreaded downtime that everyone in the factory automation and manufacturing space despises. Don’t be afraid to take a video or several photos of the disassembling process; in-depth videos or even photos are often invaluable to refer back to, especially when in a rush or a busy time of the year.

In order to make your time count with the service center, be sure to prepare your explanation on a written or typed document. If there’s a possibility of more than one employee communicating with the service center, ensure they’re up-to-speed with all details that may be of help to fixing the issue or issues at hand. MRO Electric and Supply has new and refurbished parts available now, and also offers repair pricing. Be sure to check out our core exchange program to learn how to save. For more information, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

Be sure to avoid shipping damage by packing the part or parts securely and appropriately. Nobody wants a quick and painless fix to turn into an extended fix due to laziness or lack of initiative to research correct packaging processes. Most units need 3-5 inches of packaging insulation on all sides, to ensure rough handling won’t damage the part or parts. Check out our other articles focused on robotics here.

Workforce Automation and Robots

FANUC Robotics

Workforce Automation and Robots

Automation has been in mind for not just decades, but centuries. Whether we’re talking about those who worked in flour mills or those who dealt with windmills, automated processes have always been on inventors’ minds. While automation would technically result in job losses, the increased prevalence of robots and robotics parts (FANUC Robotic Parts found at MRO Electric)  in the manufacturing, packaging, and engineering space would result in interesting implications for consumers, employees, companies, organizations, etc.

Does Workforce Automation Result in Job Losses?

Many are convinced that automation will come and take over a majority of the work done by humans in the next few decades, and some feel as though their jobs are safe. Let us take China for example. China is one of the most dominant manufacturing hubs in the world, supplying a huge chunk of the world’s electronics products. Over the past few years, Chinas’ factories cut human workforce by an astounding average of 50%, due to the increased prevalence of robots.

Are there Advantages of Workforce Automation?

Although there is definitely a negative side of workforce automation, do positive sides exist? Customers could experience, to an extent, cheaper and more effective services and products. This would be due to the cost savings of the autonomous robotics, which yield a one-time fee along with other basic upkeep costs. Lower production costs would also make it possible to build items in the U.S. vs overseas, which many would prefer.

 Automation Limits?

There are limits to mostly everything, and automation is no exception. Short product life cycles that quickly become obsolete and ability to entertain fully-custom projects do not fit into an automation system. For example, paying for a large number of robots to build an electronic product that will become obsolete in less than a year would not be a smart decision from a business standpoint. The ability to be flexible and custom is imperative when concerning several products in several different markets.

What does Second Machine Age Mean?

Robotics in machine automation is becoming a larger part of the workforce as time goes on. Some companies plan to simply increase production levels with the help of robots and robotics parts while keeping their employee count the same and reassigning their workers to other positions within the company. With the addition of robots and robotic parts in the workplace, workers will be needed to maintain robots, calibrate and monitor them, analyze data and more.

The rise of robots and robotic parts is unavoidable in several niches. Today’s technological prosperity is changing tomorrow’s workforce for good. MRO Electric and Supply has new and refurbished FANUC Robotics parts available. We also offer repair pricing. For more information, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

Lastly, be sure to check out our articles on boosting factory automation productivity here.

IT and Robotics

Information Technology involves storing, retrieving, altering and transmitting massive amounts of data.

Because IT is heavily reliant on computers, automating the field is definitely the most practical direction.

Slowly taking rein in the sector, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is terminating the manual effort associated with IT tasks and business processes.

RPA grips technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning and vision, big data analytics and, eventually, quantum mechanics, to complete several tasks.

There are two types of automated deployments:

  1. Simplified robots (such as FANUC Robotics products found here) that execute a script to recurrently execute a specific function.
  2. Cognitive RPA/software-based AI that learns the tasks they are presented with and learn how to make choices on their own.

Currently, large global IT and BPO (business process outsourcing) organizations are using lesser forms of RPA.

Using RPA enables organizations to provide IT services at higher efficiencies and minimize costs.

Utilizing RPA enables organizations to provide IT services at increased efficiencies while cutting costs.

Many say that a handful of companies are currently in the early stages of conducting RPA proof-of-concept trials, while some are entertaining production pilots.

Affected Areas

Many IT service lines are expected to come under RPA’s influence.

  1. Helpdesk is a field that falls under this category. RPAs could potentially automate non-ticketing activities that, as per IT reports, occupy 25% to 40% of a helpdesk’s tasks. Some of these tasks include monitoring, providing clarifications and reporting. As for ticketing, RPA could assist in automation common service requests such as password resets.
  1. IT infrastructure outsourcing is another area that is expected to be impacted by RPA. In this, robots (such as FANUC motors, amplifiers, and drives) could observe critical thresholds and, under certain threshold breach conditions, could even fix the issue.

Companies have already started to leverage RPA for many of their client projects.

Processes that mandate RPA include rule-based, high volume, several systems, repetitive tasks, data mining, or data entry tasks. MRO Electric and Supply has new and refurbished FANUC Robotics products available. We also offer repair pricing. For more information, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

Automation Advantages

  1. RPA slashes labor costs immensely.
  2. The technology offers a less prying way for integrating systems because software AI access applications through the user interface.
  3. Robots would connect to various UIs, including legacy green-screen applications, and would not touch the underlying software.
  4. RPA projects require less time and money when compared to traditional automation.
  5. AI robots will provide better quality, faster processing times (within hours compared to weeks with manual approach), major improvement in traceability for audit purposes, and increased high-speed analytics.
  6. RPA would easily scale and address fluctuations in volume.

Feasibility

Automation projects, as per industry experts, should not take more than a year to complete. They would likely cost between half a million USDs to two million or more, depending on the number of robots and their complexities. Check out our article on factory automation and machine-to-machine learning here.

Yaskawa Motoman Swordfighter

Yaskawa Motoman Swordfighter

Industrial robotics is pretty under-recognized It’s easy to think they’re all about manufacturing. But just watch as Motoman-MH24 normally found assembling or packing products in a factory, takes on a new lease on its automation life and becomes a master sword fighter.

Motoman-MH24 is a 630-pound high-speed industrial robot made by Japan’s Yaskawa Electric Corporation. The Yaskawa Bushido Project is a short video clip showing Japanese master swordsman and five times Guinness World Record holder Isao Machii teach Motoman-MH24 the way of the sword. The company made this promotional clip to celebrate what they dub “manufacturing spirit” as they near their 100th anniversary.

To date, Machii has demonstrated some pretty radical feats with his blade: slicing a flying shrimp pelleted at him at 80mph in half, and a neon ball flung at him at 150mph – and these are just some of the things the dude can do.

The Yaskawa researchers examined Machii’s sword techniques in 3D. Next, they got Motoman to reproduce the very same movements, and the results are superb. In a showdown between master and robot-apprentice, the pair first demonstrates a four-directional cut in flawless sync. Then Motoman-MH24 reproduces each of Machii’s cuts down to a tee.

Things start really heating up when the robot actually looks like it’s gaining an upper hand over its human trainer. While Machii horizontally slices one orange, Motoman-MH24 takes down six in one fell swoop. The most epic scene is probably the one where Motoman splices a really thin pea pod in half.

While Machii looks visibly tired towards the end of the final “1000 cuts” scene, his mechanical counterpart could probably go on for at least an extra 100000.

Click to view our Yaskawa Drives and Controls currently for sale.

Restoring FANUC Beta Drive Parameters

fanuc robotics

Restoring FANUC Beta Drive Parameters

Some instructions to help out when replacing your drives and restoring the Fanuc beta drive parameters. With Beta series drives the parameters are stored in the drive so if you
replace the drive the parameters will go with it. MRO Electric and Supply maintains a comprehensive stock of new and used FANUC Robotics Drives parts. If you need a replacement part, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

To save and restore Power Mate CNC Manager parameters to Beta Servo Drives:

This is required when replacing a Beta drive and applies to the following
controls. 16iA,18iA,21iA,16iB,18iB,21iB,20i,16,18,21,0i,Powe rate-iD and Powermate-iH.

1. Make NC PRM 960.3 (PMN) = 0 (Enables PMM function).
2. Select where parameters are to be saved (to save to memory card on i series controls make PRM 960.2
(MD2) = 0 and PRM 960.1 (MD1) = 1, to save as a part program make PRM 960.1 = 0).
3. Set parameter 8760 to the program number you want the parameters to be stored as. Note 1.
4. Press the SYSTEM button then the RIGHT CHAPTER button until the Power Motion Manager screen is displayed.
5. Press the SYSTEM soft key.
6. Press the PARAM soft key.
7. Press the OPRT soft key.
8. Press the RIGHT CHAPTER button. READ and PUNCH soft keys will be displayed.
9. Select EDIT mode.
10.To save parameters from Beta drive to CNC press the READ soft key, press the ALL soft key then the EXEC soft key.
11.To restore the parameters from the CNC to the Beta drive press the PUNCH soft key, press the ALL soft key, then the EXEC soft key.

Be sure to check out our A06B-6105-H002 – FANUC Robotics R-2000iA Servo Amplifier product page to get the best deals.

Fanuc 911 RAM PARITY ERROR Troubleshooting

Fanuc 911 Error

Fanuc 911 RAM PARITY ERROR Troubleshooting

MRO Electric and Supply maintains a comprehensive stock of new and used FANUC CNC and FANUC Robots parts. If you need a FANUC replacement part, please call 800-691-8511 or email sales@mroelectric.com.

Last week we had a customer who was running an RNC 16 STAR 1990 vintage machine which failed so he decided to replace the main A16B-1010-0280 motherboard. His original problem was that he was receiving a 401 [VRDY Off] Error which then led to a 911 Error. When he replaced the A16B-1010-0280 motherboard, the machine would go directly to the 911 Error.

The first thing we checked for was to make sure that he transferred over all of the EEPROM modules from his original board to the replacement board, which he did. Since that wasn’t the issue, we double checked on the 911 Error, which shows as a RAM PARITY ERROR in the manual. The main cause of this error is an issue with the memory in the unit, which is caused by the memory board failing or losing the parameters in the system.

To check to see if the memory board was causing it or not, you can turn the control off, reset it, and delete the parameters. If this clears the alarm, the control would come up with a different series of servo alarms meaning that the parameters need to be reloaded. If the Fanuc 911 Error comes back it would mean that there is a problem with the memory board which needs to be replaced. Before trying any of this, be sure to confirm that you have all of the parameters saved so you can load them back in. Check out our article on IT and Robotics here.

Once the 911 Error was cleared, the customer was able to load the parameters back on to get the machine up and running.