Articles Tagged with ''automatic screwdriving''

ASSEMBLY magazine has been around since 1958. In that time, we’ve had lean years and great years. We’ve changed our name three times, and we’ve been bought and sold at least five times. We’ve survived tidal shifts in both U.S. manufacturing and publishing. (If you had told me 26 years ago that I would be spending 30 minutes a day on something called Twitter…)

Manufacturing engineers have two options for obtaining an automated assembly system. They can get each component—an automatic screwdriver, a rotary indexing dial, a gripper—from individual suppliers and integrate the parts themselves. Or, they can ask one supplier to deliver a turnkey machine.

Robotic screwdriving offers numerous advantages to manufacturers, such as flexibility and repeatability. However, it’s easy to underestimate the requirements of automation. Sometimes, engineers specify the wrong type of robot or overlook parts feeding issues.

Several issues need to be addressed before there will be more widespread use of robotic screwdriving. Cost, robot design, training, culture and other factors must be considered by manufacturing engineers.

Manufacturers in many industries are reshoring their assembly lines. Several factors are behind this phenomenon, including the ability to automate assembly tasks that traditionally used manual or semiautomated fastening equipment.