In any assembly line there are operations that can be automated with ease, then there are operations that can only be automated with difficulty at high cost and finally there are operations that virtually cannot be automated.

Some assembly processes well suited for budget automation are:

• picking material from fixtures, trays or reels
• screwing into tapped holes or fixed nuts
• assembling hard components
• soldering, especially when the soldering gear is static while the workpiece moves
• adhesive application
• pressing (e.g. after adhesive bonding)
• sticker application
• electrical hardware testing
• boxing of sufficiently rigid products

Some assembly processes not well suited for budget automation are:

• picking material from bulk (e.g. buttons from a box)
• disentangling components
• part cleaning (e.g. degrease a sticker placement area)
• wiring (crimping, soldering, clamping and routing of cables)
• handling flexible components (e.g. rubber parts, foam pads)
• tying and knotting
• wrapping
• unwrapping (e.g. individually bagged components, bundled wire harnesses)
• protective film removal
• look & feel inspection (e.g. end inspection simulating the end user)

In the following example the goal is to avoid 1/3 of the operator cost by replacing workers with automation. Each operation’s suitability for automation will be displayed as follows:

= automation is easy to achieve

= automation is hard to achieve

= automation is unfeasible

A fully automated line segment will be compared to selectively automated individual operations, both replacing 6 operators. The following simplified assembly line with 18 operators is used for illustration:

Segment automation (full automation):

The common approach is to define a segment of the line where full automation is to be implemented. Such decision making is typically driven either by the intention to have one continuous bus-connected block of automation with a central PLC and interacting robots, or else by the requirement to have one subassembly process fully automated, such as a complete line branch. This fully automated approach is depicted in the following graph, where operations 7-12 are fully automated:

In this segment automation example where the selection of individual operations was not an option, the fully automated segment happens to contain 3 operations that are difficult (and therefore expensive) to automate. Simultaneously, 4 operations that would have been easy (and therefore cheap) to automate are left unaltered (operations 2, 3, 13 and 15).

Selective automation (of individual operations):

The alternative approach to above segment automation is selective automation. The requirement is not to automate a continuous line segment or branch. The concept is to replace the operators where automation is easiest to achieve in order to the reach the lowest possible investment per automated operation.

In this selective automation example the operations that will be difficult and costly to automate are left untouched. The required 1/3 of automated operations all belong to the subset of easy to automate processes. The investment to replace the 6 operators by selective automation is therefore lower than in the previous example of segment automation.

Conclusion:

In an environment where budget matters and where a central controller, 24/7 operation and clean room conditions are not required, it is just as important to know where to avoid automation as to know where to apply it.
Selective automation is how to make this happen.

The Chinaplas exhibition, Asia’s largest plastics industry fair took place from May 21st to 24th 2019 in Guangzhou. The event, which is held alternately in the southern Chinese Metropolis and Shanghai exhibits plastics material, machines and accessories and is considered the far east equivalent to the German K fair.

The fair is divided in two main branches, where one is formed by the chemicals and raw materials sector, while the other is covering equipment like injection molding and extrusion machines, automation and auxiliary devices.

The material branch of Thermoplastics, Duroplastics and Elastomers featured additives, pigments & masterbatches, composite & high performance materials, semi manufactured goods and the relatively new field of biodegradable plastics. Altogether more than 1000 exhibitors contributed to the show’s diversity in the raw materials sector.

The machines and equipment sector mainly covered the area of tools, extrusion machines, injection molding technology, film manufacturing, elastomer processing, plastic packing, auxiliary and test devices, additive manufacturing as well as recycling technology. Over 3800 items where put on display for altogether more than 160,000 show visitors. Among the manufacturer’s countries of origin were China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the US.

The exhibition, which this year took place for the 33rd time declared Circular Economy one of its leading topics, so there was a specific emphasis on recycling technology, methods of waste reduction and biodegradable plastics. In terms of recycling, there was a spotlight on separating, washing, drying and pelletizing.

A further main subject was again Industry 4.0 – Factory of the Future. Among many Smart Factory solutions that were displayed by numerous exhibitors there were also two dedicated seminars from the ample event portfolio.

In the field of film technology, light conducting foils, high-speed vacuum thermoforming and 5-layer blow extrusion are some of the presented innovations particularly worth mentioning.

Some injection molding machine makers displayed their all-electronic versions which have advantage over conventional machines with respect to emissions and energy consumption. A continuous trend is the increasing operation of robots at the mold, for instance when placing components like in-mold labels or inserts, or picking and placing the molded products.

Among the numerous extruder and compounding machine solutions there were special modifications and variations like multiple layer extrusion heads, ERE technology and various laboratory extruders. Further extrusion machines on display covered medical, precision and corrugated hoses.

Alongside other innovations, waste recovery solutions with improved efficiency and highly reproducable and accurate granule characteristics were presented in the area of production recycling.

For tools technology and auxiliary devices, innovative solutions were presented for such items as slides, inserts, cores, ejectors, lifters, vacuum evacuation and hot runners. Other groups of auxiliary products featured were for example high performance dehumidifiers as well as electrostatic and optical sorting and separating systems.

This year the event series Tech Talk was mainly dedicated to thermoplastic elastomers in automotive, long fiber processing, in-mold labeling, precision extrusion and 3D technology. Further topics were TPE bonding, green additives, medical 3D printing and high performance flexible packaging solutions.

A trilingual overview of a standard injection molding machine’s basic components.

This year’s International Machinery Manufacturing Industry fare in Shenzhen Futian ended on Sunday after an eventful 4 days of exhibition. 110,000 sqm of the Convention and Exhibition center in the center of the Metropolis hosted the event for the last time as it will to move to the Bao’an district’s exhibition ground close to the airport in 2020.
We’ve been on the spot to take a look around.

Over 1100 participating companies and more than 130,000 visitors turned the venue into a buzz of activity, covering industries such as integrated technology & robotics, automation equipment, smart logistics and machine vision.

Hall 1 in the location’s center was hosting the wide range of metal-cutting machining technology, both from global players like Siemens, Fanuc or Tsugami and local competitors alike. The variety of machines included classical machining centers of all sizes and axis configurations, grinding machinery, laser cutting as well as more recent trends such as additive machining, e.g. selective laser melting & sintering.

Metal forming technology was the main feature of halls 2 and 3: classical sheet metal brakes, stamping and drawing machines, most of which numerically controlled, and further sheet processing equipment. Among the most well known brands Han’s Laser, Trumpf, Mitsubishi and MAZAK presented their products here.

Sheet metal bending, cutting, polishing, welding, deburring, brushing is increasingly automated, provided the production quantity and the budgets allow for investments such as robot technology integration.
Another type of application showcased in hall 3 was dispensable sealing and in-place gasketing technology.

Hall 4 was mainly dedicated to die cast and injection molding tools and accessories, featuring dozens of mold makers and contract manufacturers mainly from South China, but also from Europe, North America and Japan. Correspondingly, precision machining and surface treatment technology firms were accompanying the set.

Tactile, visual and laser 3D measuring equipment was showcased in hall 5. In addition to classical form and dimension measuring and reproduction of complete component geometries in a virtual environment, surface quality control such as roughness measuring is a field that is increasingly covered by optical measuring devices. Another field that was presented here were rapid prototyping machines, mostly represented by the booming market of Fused Filament Fabrication (3D printing). Standard and custom fastener products were another product group to be found in hall 5.

While being present in every hall in combination with various fields of manufacturing, robotic applications also had their own dedicated areas in halls 6, 7 and 8. Correspondingly, automated highly dynamic motion solutions could be seen for implementations such as intelligent welding, machined metal component processing and smart packaging & logistics. Some of the most well known names here: Kawasaki, Universal Robots and Nachi Robotics.

Finally, hall 9 held most of the tools, jigs and measuring equipment. Among it pneumatic and hydraulic clamping solutions, machining and measurement fixation equipment, special lathe chucks and a variety of custom cutting tools for special and high precision turning and milling jobs. In addition to many exhibitors from the host country there were firms from Germany, Sweden, the US and Japan, to name just a few.