Ambrell Corporation, a leading manufacturer of innovative induction heating solutions worldwide, unveiled the world’s first induction heating “cobot”. The announcement took place at IMTS 2016 in Chicago, which is America’s largest manufacturing trade show with more than 2 000 exhibitors and attendance estimated to exceed 115 000 visitors at this year’s event.

A collaborative robot or “cobot” is a programmable machine that performs a variety of light industrial tasks, usually repetitive tasks, and interacts safely and efficiently as it works hand-in-hand with humans in a shared process. Using cobot technology, Ambrell has developed an innovative solution designed specifically to maximise manufacturing throughput. Known as MAX by Ambrell, the cobot is integrated into the induction heating process for optimised production flow, increased yields and greater uniformity.

Using cobot technology, Ambrell developed an induction heating system designed to maximise manufacturing throughput

Jeff Kramer, Director of Product Management at Ambrell and the MAX project team leader, stated: “With the flexibility, portability and cost-effectiveness of cobots in the manufacturing sector, Ambrell recognised how cobot-assisted automation could be designed and engineered into the heating process, especially for high mix, low volume production. And leaner applications requiring no human intervention can free-up workers to focus on utilising SPC data rather than simply collecting this data.”

The announcement of MAX was made by Tony Mazzullo, President and CEO of Ambrell. Commenting on Ambrell’s first-to-market product innovation, Mazzullo explained: “The emergence of cobots as a new productivity tool will substantially change the way companies work in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large factories. Using the MAX cobot heating solution, fast set-up times, intuitive programming, space-saving footprints and significantly lower safety requirements will reduce the amount of time and labour required to meet production targets. Additionally, customers seeking ways to improve their competitive position will recognise a fast payback period coupled with a high return on investment.”