Webinar: Industrial robots for lights-out manufacturing

Working toward their vision of lights-out manufacturing, automotive parts manufacturer HIROTEC AMERICA jumped at the opportunity to use mobile industrial robots in their facility. But why now? Because Industry 4.0 has fueled the development of new technology. What is possible today, wasn’t three decades ago when HIROTEC AMERICA embarked on this audacious vision. The road to lights-out is a long one, but industry’s continued focus on lean, paired with advancing technologies and market readiness, make today an ideal time to reinvent manual processes by using automation.

Lights-out manufacturing: Fueled by Industry 4.0 automation

The notion of lights-out manufacturing means to run an operation or process without the use of human intervention. This concept was once far-reaching but with the progression of Industry 4.0, it is now possible to make elements of lights-out a reality because of advancements in connectivity and automation.

HIROTEC AMERICA’s story

At HIROTEC America, Gary Krus, VP of Business Development has made industry-leading changes to their spare parts production workflow using a mobile industrial robot built from an OTTO 1500 autonomous mobile robot and a Yaskawa Motoman dual-arm manipulator. The fully autonomous solution represents only a small piece of the Industry 4.0 puzzle, utilizing mobile computing, artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and emerging technology. The system is used to validate lights-out manufacturing capability; it is connected through wifi in the factory and is able to run 24/7.

HIROTEC AMERICA's mobile industrial robot

So how exactly does HIROTEC AMERICA use this type of automation inside of their facility? Where did they begin with integration and what changes were required during the implementation phase? These questions and more are discussed on the OTTO Motors webinar, “Industrial Robots for Lights-Out Manufacturing: The HIROTEC Story.”

Join Gary from HIROTEC AMERICA and Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Cam Davies, from OTTO Motors to:

• Gain an understanding of Industry 4.0 and how new technologies are enabling lights-out manufacturing initiatives
• Discover how flexible automation and mobile manipulation are used to improve productivity in an international company with $6 billion in worldwide sales

Learn why HIROTEC AMERICA selected the OTTO autonomous mobile robot as their industrial robot of choice, and how they implemented it.