Hot Topic“The CoLab creates Added Value for customers with In-depth Consulting”

Mr. Ketterer, what devel­op­ments are you observing at present in indus­trial automa­tion?

Cobots are making strong headway into automa­tion. The light­weight robots are rated highly due to two major advan­tages: They can be put into oper­a­tion easily due to their simple oper­ating and program­ming inter­face­sand, their design is to compli­ment the work of their human colleagues through collab­o­ra­tive inter­ac­tion.

This is creating new needs in the market. Indi­vidual compo­nents are no longer enough, our customer wants solu­tions for complete automa­tion processes. SCHUNK is happy to respond to this request and share its exten­sive expe­ri­ence and exper­tise: We no longer see ourselves merely as a compo­nent manu­fac­turer, rather we work out complete solu­tions along with, and for our customers.

So SCHUNK is changing its focus?

No, we are not changing our focus, we are merely expanding it. We sense an increasing need for inte­grated solu­tions. The focus is no longer on the indi­vidual compo­nents with their tech­nical spec­i­fi­ca­tions, but on the complete customer process with its perfor­mance values. To this end, we have all the building blocks in house or, where neces­sary, are extending the range of services together with our part­ners.

“In addi­tion to indi­vidual compo­nents, customers increas­ingly want solu­tions for automa­tion processes.”

What does that look like in prac­tice?

In December 2020, we commis­sioned our robot appli­ca­tion center CoLab in Hausen. Several robots and cobots and a team of appli­ca­tion engi­neers now work here on vali­dating customer appli­ca­tions. Our customers can verify their require­ments and work­pieces there in a genuine work­shop envi­ron­ment that is very close to reality.

Together with the customer, we deter­mine the feasi­bility and assemble the correct selec­tion of required hard­ware and soft­ware compo­nents. Our large network of system inte­gra­tors also enables us to support customers in imple­menting their solu­tions.

Do you have any exam­ples of this?

Customers approach us when they want to know, for example, whether a magnetic gripper can grip certain work­pieces, whether a wafer can be handled with ADHESO gripper tech­nology in the spec­i­fied cycle time and deposit accu­racy, or whether a fender can be polished auto­mat­i­cally. We handle all these customer requests with thor­ough vali­da­tion of the customer’s actual process in the CoLab.

To conclude this vali­da­tion, we draw up a detailed report including image and video mate­rial. This in-depth consul­ta­tion creates further added value for customers and those inter­ested in automa­tion. After a prelim­i­nary discus­sion and performing the neces­sary tests and exam­i­na­tions in the CoLab, the customer subse­quently receives our appli­ca­tion report; in which we recom­mend prod­ucts or systems. We thus reduce the tech­nical risk to a minimum during subse­quent imple­men­ta­tion in the robot cell.

That sounds good. Do customers benefit from the CoLab in other ways?

Yes, because we develop new prod­ucts and services. For example, the SGC appli­ca­tion kit for auto­mated handling of randomly arranged parts. This consists of a camera, the 2‑finger EGH parallel gripper, image processing soft­ware and acces­sories, and soft­ware modules for inte­gra­tion into the robot controller by Universal Robots.

Due to the perfectly matched compo­nents, the customer can commis­sion and configure the appli­ca­tion quickly, easily, and without needing any knowl­edge of indus­trial image processing. With this type of complete package, we make it easier for end customers and inte­gra­tors to auto­mate their tasks faster and with a lower tech­nical risk.

Is the CoLab aimed at a specific target group or industry?

The CoLab is acces­sible to all customers and has been very well received right from the begin­ning. Here, we test the feasi­bility of appli­ca­tions from all areas and indus­tries. Recently, we success­fully carried out several hundred appli­ca­tion vali­da­tions in the CoLab.

“The CoLab is acces­sible to all customers and has been very well received right from the outset. Here we test the feasi­bility of appli­ca­tions in all areas.”

What else do you have planned for the future?

We have also exported our successful recipe for CoLabs to the USA and China, which were have opened in recent weeks (read more about the open­ings here). Next year, we will be expanding the infra­struc­ture of our robot appli­ca­tion centers in Europe. We are contin­u­ously devel­oping the CoLab in Hausen and invest in new tech­nolo­gies and experts here. We will soon be able to simplify the changeover into auto­mated appli­ca­tions for even more customers.