Making automation technologies better for next generation, YASKAWA

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Q. Could you give us an overview of Yaskawa and its eminence in cutting edge technologies related to automation?

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Yaskawa is a trusted global leader in drives, motion control and robotics and is continuously focused towards powering the best-in-class automation with its inventive and cutting-edge technology and ground-breaking innovations. We push the boundaries of technology and our broad range of expertise in diverse industries enhances our ability to develop production ready and easy- to-implement systems. Since 1980, YASKAWA India has demonstrated a passion for automation by developing specialized solutions to help customers increase efficiency, improve quality, boost productivity, and deliver outstanding return on investment.

Our core strength includes providing turnkey solutions for Arc Welding, Press Handling, Machine Tending, Vision System and End-of-line Automation. At the Technology Centre in Japan, our main objective is to innovate, build and enhance YASKAWA products and software ecosystem, making technologies better for next generation of industrial automation and smart factories.

While the automotive market is demanding high speed technology and Ultra-low spatter welding, Yaskawa is offering MOTOPAC WL300 plus. We have Sigma-7 series servo motor which makes high speed and synchronous welding wire feed control possible. Additionally, we also offer handling robot series which range from 500 gm to 600 kg payload which will find varieties of applications in the automotive & non-automotive industries. With Industrial robots, Motion Control and AC drives, we have indeed figured out the challenges which will be faced by the industries in future with an idea to meet customer requirements.

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Q. What is your niche and standing in robotics?

We majorly deal in applications like arc welding, spot welding, handling, pick, pack and palletizing, foundry, forging, painting and many more. With over 150+ robotic variants, we have been able to successfully accomplish 8000+ Robot installations in India. The desire for continuous evolution and improvement to meet customer requirements has made YASKAWA develop and offer smart adaptive technological solutions for various industries. Our renowned and esteemed customer base spread across various industry segments including automotive, machine tools, FMCG, electronics, packaging, healthcare, textile, steel, cement, oil & gas etc. and we have been serving to the big two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler OEMs and their tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers.

We rely on giving our customers the best possible solution and reducing proximity. Today with operations spanning over the length and breadth of the country, Yaskawa India provides robust business support with complete nationwide coverage through a network of 10 regional offices and 52 authorized business partners and services across India. We have the robust capabilities to stand in the market reach and diverse nature of marketing activities. YASKAWA along with its partners established the centers of excellence of robotics and automation in various engineering institutions to develop skills in the work force and in future generations.
To continue accelerating innovation in a period of rising manufacturing complexity and its subsequent automation need, we take pride to announce the opening of our new state-of-the-art robot solution facility that aims to take industrial robotic automation to a new level.

Located in the heart of industrial cluster of Manesar, Haryana, the state-of-the-art Experience Centre’s proximity to customers will enable closer collaboration and accelerated development of solutions for the full range of industrial robotic applications offered by Yaskawa.

Q. You seem to have done some 8000 + installations hitherto. Which are the key industries and applications you cater to?

Flexibility, mobility, and collaboration are leading the way for robotic automation implementation in this era. With the rapid change in technology, consumer demand and competitive pressure, we are surely trying to work on the best possible access for the customer. YASKAWA is the largest producer of Industrial robots with over 150+ robotic variants and have been able to supply and successfully integrate 8000+ installations in both production and specific process cells.

We have expanded the lineup of our Motoman GP series for handling applications, SP series for spot welding application and PH series for handling between press processes to be in the latest trend in robotic automation. We also have a YRC1000 micro small size Robot controller and Motoman HC Series collaborative Robots, which clearly make teaching easy.

Our installations are clearly a huge success starting from healthcare to manufacturing plants, entertainment parks, commercial establishments and core Industries including automotive, machine tools, FMCG, electronics, packaging, and life sciences. We as a pioneer in these sectors, always strive to optimize the productivity and efficiency of machines and industrial systems with our innovations.

We hold expertise in various applications such as Arc & Spot Welding, Deburring, Buffing, Glue Dispensing, Handling (loading/unloading components in CNC machines), Picking, Packing and Palletizing applications with Cutting Edge technology. Our robots are the world’s fastest robots patented till date designed to maximize the performance and are best in the industry in the range of speed and working envelope.

Q. How do you substantiate the statement that you are a total Solution company?

Starting our journey of PLC in the 1980 and AC drives in the 1990 to heading on Robotics application in 2005, YASKAWA India always believes in spreading its wings with each passing decade. We clearly have focused on innovations. The solution concept of i3 mechatronics (integrated, intelligent, innovative) with Yaskawa-cockpit, AC Drives, Servo Motors & machine controllers, robotics System engineering to designing equipment for energy saving and creation, we have mastered it all. Our current Robot product range gives customers flexibility to choose product payload from 0.5 kg to 800 kg with the reach of 0.35m to 4m for Arc, Spot, handling, Press automation, painting, and work with collaborative requirement YRC1000 controller.

As a “Total Solution Company”, we contribute to the development of industry and society through fusion of core technological advancements & open innovation and help organizations address their toughest challenges today and achieving endorsing success in future. Our products and solutions have been supporting automation in additive manufacturing, building automation, water and pumping, packaging food and beverage, material handling, machine tools, oil, gas and petroleum, rubber & plastics, elevators & escalators, electrics, automotive, mining, iron & steel, textile, pulp & rubber, and cement industries.

We are serving everything necessary to support the promise we have always made. Heading up with the idea of Intelligence, integration, innovating new products and enhancing the existing one, we are relying on being a total solution company, but there is still a long way to go.

Q. What is the latest trend in robotic automation?

With industry 4.0/5.0 fully taking shape, the trend in robotic automation keeps on going radical transforms. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the internet of things (IoT) and big data are driving robots into most aspect of everyday life coming in the top latest robotic automations. In response to the current trends,Yaskawa is promoting i3-mechatronics as a solution Concept for realizing a new Industrial automation revolution with the introduction of Yaskawa cockpit which is a three-dimensional (integrated, intelligent, innovative) digital data solution and provides real time visualization of the status, health, and performance of your device.

Every year the trend in the sector keeps on transitioning for small and medium sized enterprises and particular industrial robots and Cobots are playing an increasingly important role in new areas of process, production, and handling. The trend in robotic automation is greatly affected by IoT and AI these days and with the help of automation techniques, Yaskawa has developed servo motors, ac drives, industrial robots, Yaskawa cockpit and smart factory solutions which help to maximize productivity.

Yaskawa Electric was the first to put forward the concept of Mechatronics, which is now widely used and accepted and has helped with the latest enhancements.

Q. You also offer human collaborative robots. What places your cobots in a class apart?

Yaskawa Motoman HC Series has significantly brought in the spectrum for Human-Robot-Collaboration application. A payload of 10-30 kg combined with the maximum working range of 1900 mm permit flexible use in a variety of applications. It gives effective support particularly with physically demanding tasks such as palletizing of large card boxes or other stackable goods. It also lifts heavy loads improving workplace ergonomics.

Due to its dust and drip-proof protective glass, the Cobots also prevail in harsh environments such as machine loading where the robot often comes into contact with cooling emulsions. The high lifting capacity permits the simultaneous handling of several heavy workpieces with the double gripper that is a standard of CNC automation. The use of Food grade lubricating grease makes it suitable for the food and chemical industries giving it a user-friendly operation. YASKAWA human-collaborative robots are a new generation Robotics that is capable, affordable, versatile, simple to use and built with the industrial strength for which Yaskawa products are known. These robots are for customers looking for easy automation that can work in close proximity to humans.

Q. Please throw some light on your manufacturing excellence and quality obsession?

Yaskawa’s sophisticated technology has been built up over a long period of 100+ years history. It has been embodied in the form of various products and making great contributions in society. Those technologies or products are built through steady efforts of our predecessors though the process up to the present was not an easy one.

Regardless of the advancements that have taken place over time, Yaskawa’s commitment to quality has never changed. At Yaskawa, we are constantly trying to outperform our benchmarks, with a continuous focus on R&D. We have always been known to set the standard for quality which competitors strive for. Our patents for the world’s fastest robot are amongst many significant achievements, which demonstrates that we place quality innovations first. All our products are genuinely 100% tested under full current making our failure rate lowest in the industry. After the manufacturing is done the products go through a few processes to ensure maximum quality viz. Quality through continuous improvement. Total quality management, Certified vendor program, and Product certification process.

Q. You recently bagged the coveted engineering excellence award for your innovation in i3 Mechatronics solution concept. Could you elaborate the USP of the innovation and its benefit to the customer?

It was surely a proud moment for Yaskawa India for being recognized and honored in what it had actually believed in.

The USP of i3-mechatronics (integrated, intelligent, innovative) will work with an integrated collected data which will be analyzed and fully utilized, and that innovation will help out in improving facilities and stability of production quality and resolving business challenges that customers are seeking to build well equipped factories as this USP of ours clearly helps out in production, quality and preservation. With this solution we want to provide our customers with data management that eliminates red lights that are out of service and keeps the green light on at their factories.

Yaskawa has always been evolving Mechatronics with the aim of a new Industrial automation revolution and with a proposed concept of i3-mechatronics in 2017, it added elements of digital data management. The solution concept of i3-mechatronics i.e. integrated, intelligent, innovative concept is clearly devoted to solving customers’ business challenges by acting as a bridge between traditional mechatronics and digital technology, enhancing productivity and quality through generation of machine and big data utilization.

Q. How is the demand pattern for robotics for industrial application in India? What are the stimuli and how do you expect the market to grow?

Industrial robots are in operation around the country and have become an indispensable equipment for production of automobiles, home appliances, PCs, Smartphones, and other products that are not a part of everyday life. Robotic industries are leading the industrial application with 48% (approx.) of annual installations per year. The demand for industrial robots from general manufacturing industries is anticipated to pick up at a healthy rate over the forecast period. Industry 4.0 has played a pivotal role in propelling the demand for industrial Robotics in India and as a stimulus Yaskawa is promoting i3 mechatronics, artificial intelligence as a solution Concept for releasing a new industrial automation revolution.

Our industrial robots are the core products to realize this concept and are used in a wide range of industries including electric and electronic equipment, semiconductor manufacturing biomedical, food, medical products, logistics and are continued further. After the announcement of first MOTOMAN in 1977, we have shipped 500,000+ units all over the world. We develop servo motors which are the main component of industrial robots and aside from controlling software technology that maximizes this capability, we also develop industrial robots by integrating application technology that realizes optimum structure and function for applications such as painting and welding.

Much dependence on robots could be observed in the coming year in the industrial sector as they give proper reliability, accuracy and speed. Reports suggest that industrial robots worldwide could reach 20 million by 2030 taking over automated workers.

Q. What is your vision for Yaskawa India?

At YASKAWA India, we tried to establish a corporate structure and management base being more local, adopting a DNA of Yaskawa culture that enables us to take innovative actions to realize our vision 2025.

Yaskawa has embraced industry 4.0/5.0 and its technology to carve a bright future of Indian manufacturing and we have redefined our vision as the automation and optimization of factories through i3-mechatronics and new field of mechatronics application for sustainable development. Through the Yaskawa cockpit, we are heading towards the goal of a data management system as a step towards the realization of the i3-mechatronics solution.

We work on strengthening management foundation that contributes to sustainable society and business by sustainable and productive manufacturing, create a rewarding workplace and human resource development, fair and transparent governance system. With AI, robotic automation, big data, IoT and machine learning we are analyzing the current process with all big data, and filling the gaps related to it.

Yaskawa believes that its technology can contribute to solving business challenges. With an aim to offer Eco mechatronics for the people of the earth, Yaskawa makes effort in research and development with its long-cultivated mechatronics technology into the next generation mechatronics that can widely contribute to social development. Our mission 2025 clearly focuses on leveraging the pursuit of our business to contribute to the advancement of society and the well-being of humankind which clearly aim to improve the quality of life empowering innovation and delivering results.

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