The North American Material Handling and Logistics Show of 2010 (NA2010) took place from April 26-29th in Cleveland, Ohio. Bob happily had the chance to attend (no pesky volcanic ash to disrupt travels this time!)
April 27th was a cold, clear day in Cleveland, and Bob entered NA2010 along with what he considered a surprisingly steady stream of people. The show provided lots of opportunity for mingling and networking, and he was able to connect with many vendors, new and old.
On Friday, as newspaper headlines read “Europe Faces More Air Travel Chaos” and “Flight Disruptions in Europe Get Even Worse,” Bob and Ron found themselves grounded in Richmond. Southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) glacier began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending ash several miles into the air. Winds pushed the ash south and east across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, and into the heart of Europe. Millions of people have been affected; Bob and Ron, itching to get to the Hanover Fair, were among them. Maybe next year…
Later this week, Bob Giberson and Ron Turkaly will travel to Germany to attend the Hanover Fair, the largest industrial tradeshow in the world! Hanover Fair presents the broadest range of new industrial technologies anywhere in the world. Bob and Ron will have the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in automation, electrical engineering, robotics, energy-efficient solutions, and much more.
Stay tuned for blog updates from Bob, as well as his Tweets, live from Germany; share in the adventure, and be sure to let Bob know if there are specific applications you’d like him to investigate while at the show!
Follow PeakLogix (and Bob) on Twitter: www.twitter.com/peaklogix
And in the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about Hanover Fair, here are a few links to explore:
Hanover Fair home page
2009 end of show report, including statistics and other facts
It’s sure to be a fun, informative, and worthwhile trip…we look forward to sharing it with you!
The Greater Richmond Warehousing and Logistics event will be held on May 5, 2010!
PeakLogix is proud to be a sponsor of this one-day conference and vendor expo for Greater Richmond’s warehouse, manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics industry professionals! The cost is $35.00 per registrant, and Manufacturing and distribution Owners, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, General Managers, Plant Managers and VPs of Operations (individuals with P & L responsibility) are encouraged to attend.
Use this conference to stay current and learn about the latest strategies, technologies, solutions and proven techniques for cost reduction and improved efficiency in manufacturing and distribution. Learn new ways to manage transportation costs and increase profits. It is also a great networking opportunity.
Visit www.richmondwarehouseconference.com for more information or to register.
For over thirty years, I’ve heard many of the same questions from clients:
“How do I design my warehouse?”
“What’s the best way to store our materials?”
“Which way should I run my racking?”
And the answers always sound the same:
“What does the data say?”
“What unique characteristics of your business are critical for us to know so that we can optimize your layout and help you operate at Peak efficiency?”
The size of your business and the complexity of your processes will help us determine how deep a consultant or integrator needs to “dig” in order to best help you; in short, the days of “winging it” are long gone — we need to let Data drive the Design.
Bob Giberson
Today we just did a verbal review of all that we have covered in the last week. I then received a certificate to certify my completion of training and service for the Fuji product, and I said goodbye to the good people of Fuji and thanked my trainer for such a great program.
I have had such a wonderful time. It has been a good educational experience and I have to say “thank you” to the good people of Fuji. They couldn’t have shown me a better time or a greater experience.
Thank you again to everyone involved!
I am now on the way to the airport to begin the long journey home!
I would like to say goodbye and thank you, Japan! I hope that I can experience you again!!
All the best!
Darren
Good morning, Everyone!
This was, unfortunately, the last full day of training. Mainly, we reviewed everything we have done in the last 4 days. We spent quite a large portion of the day going through the customer’s software and testing it in “auto” mode.
I was able to take the covers off of one of the robots and go over all of the mechanical parts, motors, gearbox, bearings, greasing points, fittings, air lines… the works! The Fuji product is very well designed. Everything is easily accessible and not over-engineered. I am very much looking forward to doing the “auto” teaching on-site and leaving them to enjoy the robots!
Tomorrow we will be getting the robots ready for shipping. I will do a final inspection when we have finished, and they will then be crossing the “pond” for a period of approximately 2 ½ weeks to arrive on the west coast during the second week in March.
I have attached a photo that you might recognize. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world… you can always stop for a “Slurpee!”
All the best!
Darren
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today I really got a chance to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I was able to do manual teaching of the robot, set it into “auto mode,” and then sit back and enjoy the show!
I also reviewed what was done in the last few days. We have now started with the “auto teaching”… it’s coming much more easily to me, as I’ve already got the “manual teaching” under my belt. I was able to set the program in the main board as well as all the drives and also to upload the program to the PLC on one of the panels. As a test, we set an output for the error light to come on at start up, just to make sure everything was in the proper working order.
I was able to do the “manual teaching” of different layers and patterns and then test it all in auto when I was finished. I have to tell you, there is nothing like seeing this robot picking and depositing in “auto” after you have calculated all the pick up and drop off pallet positions and layout!
All the best!
Darren
Hello, Everyone!
Today our client arrived in Tokyo for the testing. We tested the two different products and pallet positions: it went very well, and our client was very pleased. He approved the project, and I have to say that he is an extremely clever and very nice gentleman. I have assured him that PeakLogix will provide them with the high level of Customer Service and Support they deserve. I am very much looking forward to making this a big success for his company, Fuji, and PeakLogix.
I was able to do a P-Cal set-up on my own today during training. We practiced box position adjustments and went through the upload and download of the software: .exe, .mot, .fal, rss. I also was able to, again, set up with pallets at an angle to the pick up conveyor. We also went over the pick up points and the difference between pallet 1 and pallet 2 in initial settings, and how pallet dimensions in initial settings relate to Edit Block Data. It has been another very productive day, and I look forward to tomorrow!
The food here is spectacular! (I know this because it “winks” at me before I eat it!)
Have a good day and all the best!
Good morning!
Today was spent entirely in training. I arrived at the Fuji Robotics facility in Sanyo Onada City and was first given a tour of the facility, starting from the basic assembly of the materials and ending at our own robots.
My trainer is an electrical engineer with a Masters in hardware and software. He spent the morning explaining how the robot and control panel will look upon delivery. We then moved on to the control panel components and hardware. We went through all the different PC boards and communications wiring. He explained the difference between the FA-30 and FA-100 boards as well as between the .exe system version file and the .mot and .fal files.
We then got into the physical set up of the robot. I couldn’t stand it anymore…..I finally got my hands on the robot! With proper instruction and care, I started with setting the dip switches on the boards of a new panel, and was in heaven at this point. Then, we went through the proper way to run the wires of the robot, 3 phase, ground connections, and so on. I was able to manually move the robot with the new and improved teaching pendent. I was also able to set up a manual layout and try it in auto when I was finished. I managed not to break anything, and the layout I had made turned out rather well. After the set up, we reviewed the sequences once again to make sure they were buried somewhere in my head.
Towards the end of the day, we went over box position adjustments. All of the numbers started running wild in my head, and it became very difficult to keep track of them. Tomorrow we start with software downloads, and then I get to set up some more pickup/pallet positions.
It has been a very productive day, thanks to a great trainer and a fantastic product!
Speak with you all tomorrow!
