What we learned at the 2024 Automate Show

 

There are a few major manufacturing and robotics trade shows every year that Weldon never misses, and the Automate Show from the A3 Association for Advancing Automation is one of them.

Weldon President Travis Gentzler, Mechanical Engineering Manager Tim Wheeler and Automation Sales Manager Charles Gales all attended this year to staff the Weldon booth and walk the show floor to see what Weldon’s partners and competitors exhibited.

We spoke to them about what they learned at the 2024 Automate Show. Here are some of their biggest takeaways and the benefits for Weldon customers.

Q: What was different about the show this year compared to the previous event?

Gentzler: More and more people are doing their research before they come. They know what they’re looking for and are going straight to talk to the people that can do it. The nice thing about that is they’re finding us easier. They’re ready and more educated on what they’re looking for and not just randomly kicking the tires.

Q: What are your takeaways from the show?

Gentzler: A lot of smaller integrators are looking for larger integrators to help keep jobs moving ahead. People are looking for more complicated automation solutions. From a Weldon perspective, we don’t get the easy stuff anymore. Our projects over the years have gotten far more complex. We don’t just get the machine load/unloads anymore. We are now getting larger government sub-contracting jobs. It’s factory floor automation, rather than just a small cell.

Gales: There remains very strong interest across almost all industries in automation of manufacturing processes and material handling. Although the robotics industry and equipment suppliers are reporting a slight reduction in orders in 2024, you would not be aware based on the activity on the show floor. Attendees were interested, engaged and eager to share potential automation projects. Numerous manufacturers spent significant time discussing how Weldon Solutions could assist them through automation with challenges that they face.

Wheeler: We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of the systems we deliver to our customers. With so many automation-specific companies in one place, we quickly found some new products that could help us be successful with the increasing complexity of projects. We had the opportunity to speak to many current and potential industrial partners. These industry specialists become a valuable resource for future projects.

Q: What was some interesting or new technology you saw?

Wheeler: AGV technology continues to improve.  We see many potential projects where this could be a good fit. There is an increasing demand to automate processes throughout the factory floor.  Automating material movement between these areas can really improve efficiency. We also found a company that manufactures a quick coupler for changing out the robot end of arm tools.  This product can change tools quicker than other products on the market and could be just the right fit when cycle times are tight.

Gales: Although artificial intelligence may often be confused with a high level of programming, it is definitely creeping into the robotics space. AI has been used for years in machine vision applications where you might capture images of, say, 100 good products and 100 bad products in an inspection application. From there, you let the computer decide if subsequent products satisfy inspection requirements.

Collaborative robots have now become mainstream and have proven to be effective in applications suited for their use. Cobots will not replace industrial robots in high payload and high-speed applications, but many areas in manufacturing are suitable for cobots. One attendee counted the number of different cobot manufacturers that displayed their units at the Automate 2024 show, and surprisingly there were well over 20 different cobot brands! Another was end of arm tooling, or EOAT. A robot or cobot is pretty helpless until tooling is mounted to its wrist. At the Automate 2024 trade show, there were numerous new products for gripping products and innovative ways to use existing methods for picking, such as clamping, magnets and vacuum. Another trend was suppliers offering standard EOAT for specific purposes like picking products for material handling applications.

Q: Were there any industry announcements of note at Automate?

Gales: There has been a lot of growth in humanoid robots over the past few years. A humanoid robot, as the name suggests, resembles and moves like a human. Service industries have speculated on their use for human assistance and other human-like applications for years. Now, there is a trend where humanoid robots are starting to work autonomously in other industries. This market segment has grown to the point that A3 is sponsoring the initial Humanoid Robot Forum in Memphis, TN in October 2024. Although it is unlikely that Weldon Solutions will be involved in humanoid robots any time soon, there is a lot of investment in this technology, and it will grow rapidly in the next five to 10 years. Look for humanoid robots to be handling packages or totes in a warehouse near you soon!

Contact Weldon today if you’re considering automating your manufacturing or other industrial processes and we’ll be glad to discuss the best options to help your business.