One of the keys to the success of CDs as a medium for data and picture storage is their low cost. With billions of CDs being manufactured each year, though, it would be impossible to maintain the necessary output rate and product quality by conventional methods. Therefore, the entire manufacturing process-from the supply of granulate to the molding, labeling and quality control of the finished CDs-is fully automated.
Once the plastic disk has been injection-molded, it is a precision part that is easily damaged, yet it still has to be moved accurately from one station to the next in the production process. This cannot be done easily with conventional mechanical-pneumatic transport and handling devices. Mechanical grippers can distort and damage the CDs. In many cases they are not fast enough for the short machine cycles. Vacuum-assisted handling of the parts, on the other hand, is fast, reliable and safe.