Page 61 - Plastics News September 2024
P. 61
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Prepare to automate: 6 design tips to future-
proof your production
Oliver Selby, head of sales for FA-
NUC UK, outlines six key design con-
siderations for seamless automation
integration.
anufacturing has been one of the UK’s 1. Embrace the automation
success stories, with an output valued
Mat £217bn. But with Make UK revealing It may sound obvious, but keep front of mind the
that we’ve dropped out of the top 10 manufac- fact that your product’s manufacturing process
turing nations for the first time1 (down to 12th), will need to benefit from automation. This can
our position is vulnerable unless we significantly generally only be done by incorporating auto-
increase our level of automation. mation into the design of the product, whether
that’s by giving the part a feature that allows it
Helping manufacturers to increase their produc- to be picked up by a robot, located or inspect-
tivity, reduce waste, improve product quality and ed by a vision system, or allowing access for a
alleviate labour shortages, the benefits of auto- welding torch or fixturing, for example.
mation are myriad. And as the only G7 country
to sit outside the top 20 in terms of robot den- This mindset also translates to the wider produc-
sity (we are actually 25th in the IFR global robot tion line. We see products designed using multi-
league table), accelerating our automation up- ple materials, joining techniques and production
take is essential if we are to retain our place as a methods which won’t all necessarily work to-
leading manufacturing nation. gether to produce something that is easily auto-
mated, but which designers are reluctant to give
It is therefore important that when designing a up. However, it can be better to take a hit on
new product, planning a new production line or one material or process to make things easier to
upgrading your existing facility, automation is automate, thereby reducing overall production
factored in from the very start of the process, costs.
not just as an afterthought. Not only does this
keep down costs, it also ensures that any auto- 2. Prioritise partsFANUC
mation will be right first time, minimising down- Focus on part delivery methods within the com-
time, boosting productivity and resulting in a so- plete solution. Often, customers will come to us
lution that is fit for purpose. looking for an automated solution, but with their
PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS
September 2024
September 2024 PL 61 63
