Standardization and modularization in pick and place equipment

Pick and place equipment is instrumental in many facilities for raising overall output and reducing errors. However, electronics design engineers know that standardization and modularization are among the top requests from decision-makers who use or might soon use this equipment.

Here’s how design professionals can address those standards in pick and place equipment.

After failed efforts to standardize or modularize existing pick and place robots, people may think they should start from scratch to get things right. However, that is not necessarily the case if designers, engineers, and others involved with these projects focus on the most pressing issues and prioritize solving them.

That was the approach for a federal initiative working to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs prescription-fulfillment project. The initial aim was to use 20 modular units, each designed for a specific task.

However, those machines failed numerous tests, and the entity first involved in designing and installing them never finished the project. After assessing matters and implementing solutions, a robotics vendor improved the suction methods that allowed robots to pick up pills and installed funnels around each one to catch dropped pills.

The vendor also implemented technology to train the system to recognize new pill types and shapes, making it future proof. This example shows how electronics design engineers, who identify the most significant issues and determine the best solutions, can get meaningful results and save time and money.

Standard recommendations for training and maintenance

Industrial decision-makers can lengthen the usefulness of pick and place equipment by keeping it well-maintained and ensuring operators know how to use it. These assets are similar to other specialty machines that need ongoing oversight to perform reliably. For example, many laser cutters have auto-focus features and real-time monitoring. Those capabilities tighten quality control but do not remove the need for supervision.

Standardization occurs when managers create training processes, checklists, operator certifications, and other mechanisms to prevent costly mistakes. However, electronics design engineers can influence those resources by suggesting the content of the manuals, warranties, and materials people receive when purchasing pick and place machines.

These engineers can also create guidelines about when to perform specific maintenance measures and stipulate the conditions that may require more frequent maintenance. Those insights can help people standardize internal processes to optimize their equipment.

Traditional standardization opportunities come from purchasing equipment that meets specific industrial standards, such as those associated with pharmaceutical clean rooms. However, some companies purchase automated equipment from a single brand. Although that approach allows standardization, it limits future flexibility.

For instance, recent microelectronics shortages have required creativity to fulfill industrial automation plans. Challenges like this mean standardizing industrial processes may be the best option.

Pursue modularization to enable growth

Electronics design engineers may work for clients who want specific pick and place integrations that address current needs while anticipating future requirements. In those cases, standardization may become limiting, but modularization could create the flexibility required to meet new needs as they emerge.

S&S Activewear’s distribution center is a real-life application of that option. The company uses hundreds of autonomous mobile robots to bring items from shelves to workers. The upgrade saves the employees from time-consuming tasks, like walking up and down aisles to find the desired products.

Executives also recognized how pick and place equipment fit into their automation goals. Although picking was once largely manual, specialty equipment has optimized the task and boosted productivity. The company now has 50 modular picker workstations, increasing its initial amount by over 50%. Workers do all their picking there after robots bring them the goods. Additionally, workers place all the picked goods directly into shippable cartons, shortening the process.

This example shows the positive results that can happen when clients, designers, and other concerned parties focus on expansion potential from the beginning. Even if decision-makers are unsure how much their operations might grow, modular installations give them numerous options to implement later.

Increase pick and place equipment adoption

These suggestions can help electronics design engineers use their expertise and problem-solving strategies to encourage industrial leaders to bring pick and place machines into their facilities for the first time. The more decision-makers view automated equipment as aligned with their processes, the likelier they will be to use it.

Ellie Gabel is a freelance writer as well as an associate editor at Revolutionized.

Related Content

The post Standardization and modularization in pick and place equipment appeared first on EDN.