Chicago Tribune; June 11, 2001
Robotics-makers Reach Out
By Jeff Meredith, Tribune staff reporter
Exhibitors at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, surrounded by robotic arms and conveyor belts, had the future in mind--but also a large number of orders for it on hold.
Since 1987, the biennial International Robots and Vision Show and Conference had made its home in Detroit, keying on the auto industry's role as the largest user of robotic technology. But with a drop in demand for cars and trucks and the trickle down lag in automotive components, more than 175 robotics companies, pushing to diversify, came to Rosemont last week.
The robotics industry, like much of the struggling U.S. economy, is having a woeful year. In the first quarter, orders for robotic manufacturers dropped 36 percent. Moving away from the auto industry, robotic manufacturers see hope for sales growth in non-traditional industries, such as consumer goods, food and pharmaceuticals.
"We saw a downturn coming in the automotive and semiconductor industries back in August of 2000," said Craig Jennings, president of Motoman, a West Carrolton, Ohio-based manufacturer. "As we saw this downturn, we really started focusing our energies on non-automotive applications. We need to have that multi-industry base so if one market turns down, we're still OK."
Motoman did not feature automotive applications at its booth. Instead, it emphasized automated pharmaceutical dispensing, a system of processing prescriptions with robot bar scanning--albeit with M&M candies symbolizing your average pills.
Motoman has also developed a sample sorter and tracker for blood tests, a device Jennings envisions will "take the person out of this relatively dangerous environment."
Manufacturers say robotic assembly lines reduce repetitive motion injuries. "A lot of people think that robotics takes jobs away from people--it really doesn't," said Jerry Weber, central sales manager for the Itasca branch of Intelligent Actuator Inc. Robotics "increases companies' profits and handles jobs that people really don't want to do, like taking something off a line and putting it in a box all day," Weber said.
Food giant Campbell Soup Co.'s Pepperidge Farm subsidiary installed a system of 14 vision-guided robots to package its Milano cookies, already produced at a speed of 200 per minute. ABB Flexible Automation, one of the project's key suppliers, showcased a robot similar to that used by Pepperidge Farm. The robot hangs over two conveyor belts, transferring objects from one to the other. "It fits in the same space as a human would fit, but it doesn't have carpal tunnel syndrome in a month," said Mark Hillam, a senior applications engineer at ABB.
Ann R. Smith, ABB's director of marketing communications, said the company's solutions move a human workforce to other areas of value-added work. "They become the robot operators, they're enhancing that job," she said.
The jury may still be out on net job gains and losses because of automation, but Jennings argues that robots are often taking root where people aren't available. Motoman sells robotic welding systems to Polaris Industries, a manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATVs and other recreational vehicles. A Polaris plant in Roseau, Minn., uses robotics.
"Roseau is a few miles from Canada. Nobody lives there unless they are a hunter or fisherman," Jennings said. "They need welders and we've been selling them a lot."
Robotics-makers say they have to diversify to succeed in a slowing economy.
"We're putting a lot of effort into trying to enter markets that have traditionally not used robots, such as food or packaging," said Nigel Smith, a European representative for Toshiba Machine, an international company with an office based in Elk Grove Village. "The non-traditional markets are the key for the robot market in the future."
Robotics-makers Reach Out
By Jeff Meredith, Tribune staff reporter
Exhibitors at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, surrounded by robotic arms and conveyor belts, had the future in mind--but also a large number of orders for it on hold.
Since 1987, the biennial International Robots and Vision Show and Conference had made its home in Detroit, keying on the auto industry's role as the largest user of robotic technology. But with a drop in demand for cars and trucks and the trickle down lag in automotive components, more than 175 robotics companies, pushing to diversify, came to Rosemont last week.
The robotics industry, like much of the struggling U.S. economy, is having a woeful year. In the first quarter, orders for robotic manufacturers dropped 36 percent. Moving away from the auto industry, robotic manufacturers see hope for sales growth in non-traditional industries, such as consumer goods, food and pharmaceuticals.
"We saw a downturn coming in the automotive and semiconductor industries back in August of 2000," said Craig Jennings, president of Motoman, a West Carrolton, Ohio-based manufacturer. "As we saw this downturn, we really started focusing our energies on non-automotive applications. We need to have that multi-industry base so if one market turns down, we're still OK."
Motoman did not feature automotive applications at its booth. Instead, it emphasized automated pharmaceutical dispensing, a system of processing prescriptions with robot bar scanning--albeit with M&M candies symbolizing your average pills.
Motoman has also developed a sample sorter and tracker for blood tests, a device Jennings envisions will "take the person out of this relatively dangerous environment."
Manufacturers say robotic assembly lines reduce repetitive motion injuries. "A lot of people think that robotics takes jobs away from people--it really doesn't," said Jerry Weber, central sales manager for the Itasca branch of Intelligent Actuator Inc. Robotics "increases companies' profits and handles jobs that people really don't want to do, like taking something off a line and putting it in a box all day," Weber said.
Food giant Campbell Soup Co.'s Pepperidge Farm subsidiary installed a system of 14 vision-guided robots to package its Milano cookies, already produced at a speed of 200 per minute. ABB Flexible Automation, one of the project's key suppliers, showcased a robot similar to that used by Pepperidge Farm. The robot hangs over two conveyor belts, transferring objects from one to the other. "It fits in the same space as a human would fit, but it doesn't have carpal tunnel syndrome in a month," said Mark Hillam, a senior applications engineer at ABB.
Ann R. Smith, ABB's director of marketing communications, said the company's solutions move a human workforce to other areas of value-added work. "They become the robot operators, they're enhancing that job," she said.
The jury may still be out on net job gains and losses because of automation, but Jennings argues that robots are often taking root where people aren't available. Motoman sells robotic welding systems to Polaris Industries, a manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATVs and other recreational vehicles. A Polaris plant in Roseau, Minn., uses robotics.
"Roseau is a few miles from Canada. Nobody lives there unless they are a hunter or fisherman," Jennings said. "They need welders and we've been selling them a lot."
Robotics-makers say they have to diversify to succeed in a slowing economy.
"We're putting a lot of effort into trying to enter markets that have traditionally not used robots, such as food or packaging," said Nigel Smith, a European representative for Toshiba Machine, an international company with an office based in Elk Grove Village. "The non-traditional markets are the key for the robot market in the future."
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