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Ahead in automation Yaskawa
AHEAD IN AUTOMATION
AT Yaskawa Europe GmbH, in Germany, the drive for further innovation is seeing development of the company’s ground-breaking dual arm robots, which can increasingly replace humans in hazardous situations.
Richard Tontsch, marketing manager, views these ground-breaking models as a key part of the company’s future and their development as part of its growth plan.
“At the moment, I believe we are the only industrial robot producer to offer a dual arm robot in three versions,” he says.
“I think, in the future, we will see a growing number of applications for these. We will see them used in an increasing number of different environments, particularly those where they can replace humans in dangerous situations.”
A pioneer in motion control
Yaskawa Europe GmbH is part of the Yaskawa Electric Corporation, the leading global manufacturer of inverter drives, servo drives, machine controller, medium voltage inverters and Motoman industrial robots. Founded in 1915, the group has been a pioneer in motion control and drive technology, launching product innovations that optimise the productivity and efficiency of both machines and systems.
In almost 100 years of company history, Yaskawa products and solutions have helped
to drive automation processes in many different industries such as mining, steel, machine tools, automotive, packaging, woodworking, textiles and semiconductors.
From its headquarters in Eschborn, Germany, Yaskawa Europe GmbH provides professional mechatronic and robotic solutions to companies throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and countries of the former Soviet Union. Offices in these regions and production facilities in four countries ensure that it is always close to its customers, taking care of urgent requests within 24 hours.
New headquarters
Yaskawa Europe GmbH has more than 1000 employees across five production sites.
“We have just opened a new headquarters at Allershausen, near Munich, for our robotic division in Europe,” explains Mr Tontsch. “This represents an investment of €12.5 million.”
Relocation to the new offices, development shops and repair facilities took place in midSeptember. The new, three-storey headquar-
ters building, situated on a 14,000m2 site, has more than 6200m2 of floor space.
It will accommodate central functions, such as total customer support, research and development, customer-specific system adaptation and logistics. It will also house the additional 50 employees that Yaskawa is taking on, some already during 2012.
Robots in action
The highlight of the new building is a representative showroom. Visitors from all over Europe will be able to come to see industry specific robotics solutions in action. For example, five different robots in one cell cover the tasks of a complete packaging line – from picking and packing to palletising (PPP).
In the showroom, Yaskawa also demonstrates a particularly high performance solution for robotic welding systems – one of the company’s core competencies. In the development and testing departments, engineers and technicians develop solutions and systems especially for the demanding and diverse European market.
‘Basic robots’ manufactured in Japan are customised here, for example, with application-specific actuators, or combined to form cells featuring multiple robots. The new MPP3 delta robot that was launched in 2011 – the fastest in its class – was also developed to a great extent in Germany. Furthermore, customer-specific tests are carried out in Allershausen, so that system builders, end customers and system partners can find the exact robotic solution for every application.
Speed and dexterity
“We have about 80 different robots now and customers, including tier-ones and OEMs will also be able to find out more about them all here,” he says. “They will also be able to see our dual arm models.”
Motoman SDA (slim dual arm) robots combine human-like movement with robotic speed, dexterity and repeatability. Designed to be a perfect match for assembly, pick and place, machine tending and other applications, these unique robots are designed with a central ‘torso’ and two articulated arms. The Motoman SDA series has three robot models with graduating payload capacities: the SDA5D, SDA10D and SDA20D. The company has also added a new, low-payload model to the series.
Like the other members of the SDA family, the SDA10D and SDA20D, the SDA5D has 15 axes of movement (seven axes in each arm, and one central axis in its torso). However, it handles a payload of just 5kg on each arm and is able to provide greater repeatability and higher speeds.
Quality and reliability
Yaskawa’s business is global. In Europe, it sees potential in eastern countries, as well as Turkey.
“Most of our growth will be organic,” says Mr Tontsch. “Acquisition is always a possibility too, however, if the right opportunity comes up.
“We expect moderate growth in the near future and we hope to increase our market share. We do expect to see more demand for our dual arm robots as we continue to offer our customers the high quality and reliability we are known for.” n
