RESEARCH NEWS
Digital innovation to drive efficiency
A furniture business has joined forces with Aston University in the UK in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership ( KTP ) to address production time and efficiency issues brought on by a “ post pandemic ” return to the office . A KTP is a three-way collaboration between a business , an academic partner and a highly qualified researcher , known as a KTP associate . The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge , technology and skills .
JDD Furniture specialises in commercial furniture . The business , amidst rapid expansion driven by the “ post-COVID ” return to workplaces , was keen to make strides by
implementing “ a cutting-edge production system ”. This system will help with the tracking of individual furniture piece production times and the company ’ s ability to identify inefficiencies . The manufacturer is looking for a digital production data capture system that can focus on this as well as real-time visibility into production stages , machine utilisation and the examination of production time and efficiency issues .
Ben Clegg , professor of operations and information management at Aston University , said : “ In addition to technical skills , it is important to bring general systems thinking skills into the analysis , design and implementation of any socio-technical system such as a production system . Aston University has developed a unique approach , known as PrOH modelling , to address such a challenge .”
The KTP started in May 2023 and is expected to be completed in November 2025 . This project is co-funded by Innovate UK .
Born from the First Industrial Revolution , Aston University ’ s heritage dates back to its formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875 , the first UK College of Technology in 1951 , gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966 and becoming ‘ The Guardian University of the Year ’ in 2020 . n
www . aston . ac . uk
Flexible test station with cobot
Manually checking the quality of components or products in industry is labour-intensive for employees and can be error-prone . The Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Systems Design IEM in Germany is unveiling a solution that provides versatility in this area .
In collaboration with ATM producer , Diebold Nixdorf , and software specialist , verlinked , Fraunhofer IEM has created a combination of collaborative robot ( cobot ), AI-based image analysis and IoT platform . The system frees employees from having to perform visual inspections and can be incorporated into all kinds of testing scenarios . The Fraunhofer researchers presented a demonstrator at the Hannover Messe Preview on 21 February 2024 . Collaborative robots ( cobots ) are considered a key technology in industry . Generally equipped with AI and sensor technology , these robots work alongside people in production facilities , unlocking flexible and intelligent automation concepts .
“ In today ’ s world of batch size one , fragile supply chains and new and ever-changing regulations , this is a crucial advantage over competitors ,” commented Fraunhofer .
In partnership with Diebold Nixdorf and verlinked , the Fraunhofer researchers have developed a testing robot in the “ it ’ s OWL ” project called CogeP ( Cobot-supported test stations for Intelligent Technical Systems ). Employees use the robot to check the quality of ATM control panels quickly and without any errors . It can also be retooled for an ever-changing range of testing tasks .
Dr . -Ing . Eugen Djakow , Group Manager for Automation Technology and Robotics ,
Fraunhofer IEM , commented : “ Manual visual inspections in production are a monotonous , labour-intensive task for employees , and they are error-prone on top of that . The testing robot handles these kinds of tasks quickly and reliably . This makes people ’ s
Collaborative robots free production employees from having to perform labour-intensive and error-prone manual visual inspections . Images : © Fraunhofer IEM / Janosch Gruschczyk .
work in production more interesting and less monotonous .
“ Cobot-supported test stations can collect all of the testing and operational data in the central IoT platform and access the information in real time . That means companies can reconfigure their testing routines to accommodate new requirements , without costly modifications or investments . In this way , the system offers total versatility as a tool for all kinds of testing scenarios ,” Djakow added .
The cobot solution presented can be used for testing processes as well as assembly , picking and packing , and general plant support . n
www . iem . fraunhofer . de / en
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