Scott Innovation Hub UpdateIn this newsletter we’ve profiled how Scott’s depth and breadth of engineering capability is being used to develop new industrial products. Combining our engineering with our specialist skills in Robotics, X-ray, Magnetics, Vision analysis, Sensing and Machine Learning gives our products a clear point of difference. In addition, we continue to develop our software and connectivity so our products are more easily serviced and provide critical real-time data. We’re very proud of our product development leadership and reputation. A clear example is our 400MHz NMR where we partnered with globally recognised companies Amgen and Bruker and the product is now qualified in many published articles. Trends in automation today are flexibility, modularity and collaboration. These trends, together with competitive robot prices have us providing new robotic-based solutions for appliance customers, such as our Single Station Assembly Line Concept, and easy to use collaborative robots. Since our last newsletter our Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) offering is pushing ahead quickly. BladeStop Connect will soon be available for Multiple Saws, and we’ve upgraded connectivity on our meat machines. Our final technology being introduced is our Scott Automould machine. This takes our year of press design for appliance systems into the semiconductor industry. More details are below and if you have any questions on our offering then please contact us through our website or your local sales representative. NMR Our HTS-110 brand is building a strong foundation in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. A first-ever high temperature superconducting (HTS) 400MHz spectroscopic unit has now been in operation at Amgen for over a year. The HTS-110 design takes high magnetic field NMR from specialist facilities encumbered with liquid cryogens, vibration isolators, and frequent monitoring and maintenance, into a lab fumehood with a small footprint and shutdown and start-up with the flick of a switch. Amgen and Bruker have been profiling the unit’s capabilities and benefits and you can learn more here. In the pipeline we’re developing new applications for NMR, the most recent being fat composition in meat. Unlike other fat detection methods, NMR does not require examination of a cut surface. We have received support from MLA and AgResearch and engaged in industry trials with very good outcomes. BLADESTOP CONNECT For customers with more than one BladeStop, our Connect system with multiple saw coverage is near completion, see here. This product allows supervisors to see the status and productivity of all their BladeStops at a glance from an office PC, tablet or phone, including warnings when there are repeated trips or problems on a particular saw. The product connects by WIFI (with an Ethernet option) and includes additional hardware fitted to the saw and software located on a server. The information in the database is accessible with appropriate security within a Corporate Network via a webpage. MEAT SYSTEM REPORTING - IMPROVED CONNECTIVITY The reporting system that records data from our boning room equipment i.e. X-ray Primal and Middle Machines has been upgraded. Currently, access to the reporting system is only available to people directly connected to the X-Ray PC, or through a virtual private network. This limits access and prevents it being used to its full potential. In the ‘Centralised’ reporting upgrade performance data is accessible on mobile devices, can be accessed more easily and from anywhere in the Corporate Network. All that’s required is a server, see our schematic here. Access is through encrypted and authenticated links. This structure allows an over-view of all machinery, comparisons of production and quality and will streamline service support by providing easy access to diagnostics before they have reached site as well as provide machine performance data in relation to both run time and product quality. The next step is working with a first adopter, after which we’ll look to handover to sales. Interested parties please contact our IIOT lead, Callum McKenzie. SINGLE STATION ASSEMBLY SYSTEM Scott has answered the call from customers in production industries to deliver flexible production systems. Offering a progression path for expansion and flexibility for product changes including using robots. To see an example, click here. For customers that seek more flexibility, we have completed a design study for a cellular robotic system for cabinet production; a Single Station Assembly System. In addition to cost savings, the design and manufacturing times are significantly reduced, accelerating time to market for your products, while future proofing the production line as the system supports more flexibility for configuration and product changes. A robotic based single station assembly system can produce an assembled washing machine cabinet in 120 seconds, as an entry level production rate. As production increases additional cells can be added and configured together to produce a cabinet every 12 seconds. This type of system and forward thinking also offers the following benefits:
COLLABORATIVE ROBOT WELDER The Scott Universal Welder is an exciting new integrated solution that can be installed into existing welding cells with minimal modifications. Offering adjustable speed, flexible deployment and using a UR 10 robotic arm the Scott Universal Welder is versatile, accurate and effective enough for custom or small template welding applications. Operators with no programming experience can easily operate the system by manually setting the arc points in free drive mode or selecting a previously stored set of weld points. AUTOMOULD In an extremely competitive LED lighting market, luminaire manufacturers are looking to reduce costs while retaining or improving quality. Here we announce our Scott Automould machine that’s designed to slash production costs. The Scott Automould machine is for LED semiconductor manufacturers. It’s a novel compression moulding machine that locates silicone domes on a diode array. Domed LED’s are used for high power and directional light applications and in the market place production is relatively expensive. Scott Automould's specificially designed processes allow production costs to be cut by:
The Automould press has been designed for flexibility and can easily be adapted for alternate overmoulding forms. For more information see here. |