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MOTORINDIA
l
March 2012
Automation sector set to register
7 per cent growth this year
Automation technology is being
used increasingly in a variety of in-
dustries, including the auto sector.
It is helping these innovative indus-
tries to launch products on the mar-
ket more quickly and achieve more
economic production.
Robot manufacturers and other
automation providers have been
concentrating on the multi-faceted
needs of these industries for years.
They can provide sophisticated
technologies today. On the one
hand, they provide multiaxle robot
solutions for grinding and polish-
ing of implants, and on the other,
they also provide simpler but usu-
ally highly precise automation units.
Corresponding sensors, grippers and
vision systems are also available,
which visitors to AUTOMATICA
2012 can see for themselves on site.
Engineer Dr. Andreas Pot, Group
Leader of Intralogistics at the Fraun-
hofer Institute for Production Tech-
nology and Automation (IPA) in
Stuttgart, confirmed the availability
of suitable robots and automation
components for use in the medical,
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in-
dustries. He distinguishes two kinds
of requirements, which must be
fulfilled depending on use. “Many
robots must be suitable for produc-
tion-related use under clean room
conditions – strict guidelines with
respect to materials used and parti-
cles released. Strict hygiene require-
ments apply to other uses, such as
we know from the foodstuffs indus-
try. These both are no problem for
robot technology. Many companies
provide especially designed models
which can also be certified corre-
spondingly.”
Automation is the key to success,
specially for companies in Europe
which are in the manufacturing sec-
tor. It helps to reduce cost and makes
the product competitive against the
low-cost countries. Also because of
automation and application of robot-
ics the product quality improves,
workers’ safety is ensured and better
utilisation of resources is attained.
The robotic and automation sup-
pliers in Germany could increase
their turnover in 2011 by around
37 per cent to attain a record value
of Euro 10.3 Billion. The industry
could profit from the global trend of
increased automation not only in the
automotive industry but also in the
other industrial sectors. Exports con-
stituted more than half of the turno-
ver. China was the biggest export
market for the German suppliers in
this sector, followed by North Amer-
ica and East European countries. For
2012 a growth of seven per cent is
envisaged and expected to attain a
value of Euro 11.1 billion.
w
events
Mr. Rajesh Nath of VDMA
Automation is the key to success,
specially for companies in Eu-
rope which are in the manufac-
turing sector.