ABB opens robotics mega manufacturing facility in Shanghai

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ABB opened a brand new 67,000-square-meter robotics manufacturing facility in Kangquiao, Shanghai, China final week. The $150 million facility harnesses digital planning and manufacturing administration programs to maximise productiveness.

The brand new facility will use versatile, modular manufacturing cells as a substitute of conventional, mounted meeting strains. These manufacturing cells are digitally linked and networked. Contained in the cells, robotic programs carry out duties like screwdriving, assembling and materials dealing with. Autonomous cell robots (AMRs) zip across the facility making certain all the manufacturing cells are saved updated.

“Constructing on three many years of success in China, the opening of our new mega manufacturing facility is one other milestone in serving to our prospects develop sustainably, tackle labor shortages and create high-value jobs in a brand new period of automation,” stated Sami Atiya, president of ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation. “Our modern, automated and versatile manufacturing facility performs a key position in our technique of ‘in China, for China,’ strengthening our full worth chain right here. With over 90 p.c of gross sales supported by our manufacturing facility, the brand new facility will assist our prospects in China create extra domestically made merchandise, options and companies.”

The power has an 8,000-square-meter analysis and growth middle that can give attention to creating improvements in synthetic intelligence (AI), digitalization and software program. These may embrace analysis on autonomous mobility, digital twins, machine imaginative and prescient and low-code programming software program.

ABB hopes that, with assist from its companions and prospects in its open lab, it may use its facility to make developments in sectors like New Vitality Autos, logistics, healthcare and meals and beverage.

“This manufacturing and R&D facility brings to life our imaginative and prescient for the manufacturing facility of the long run – the place versatile automation makes manufacturing and intra-logistics extra resilient, sooner and extra environment friendly,” stated Marc Segura, president of ABB Robotics. “It embodies our dedication to the most recent in versatile, modular, clever manufacturing and it represents our give attention to AI studying applied sciences for smarter robotics. At our new R&D facility, we’ll co-develop new options with companies to arrange them for a brand new age of automation on this planet’s largest robotics market.”

ABB lately unveiled the IRB 1010, which is the corporate’s smallest industrial robotic ever. With a footprint of 135 mm (5.2 inches) by 250 mm (9.8 inches), the IRB 1010 is 30% smaller than ABB’s now second-smallest robotic, the IRB 120.