In an effort to boost productivity and help manufacturers emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever, Universal Robots (UR) joins hands with Phillips Machine Tools India, part of Phillips Corporation, the world’s largest Haas factory outlet. Together, they are all set to offer machine shops a safe, user-friendly solution to optimise uptime and enable significant advantages to manufacturers in India. This is an extension of the existing partnership between the two companies in the USA, which was first announced in August 2019.
Cobots are niche robotic arms which are quick to deploy, have a low footprint, and easy to program, even for those who are first time robot users. They overcome common barriers to automation faced by manufacturers in India, allowing them to implement Industry 4.0 technology. Traditionally, manufacturers face significant difficulties in the loading and unloading of CNC machines, which happens to be one the most popular applications of collaborative robots. Thus, the distributor agreement between Universal Robots India and Phillips Machine Tools India will ensure the rapid deployment of cobots with Haas CNC machines to help manufacturers staffing issues and stay competitive in this time of uncertainty. It will further offer affordable solutions to new and existing manufacturers and drive them to push the envelope by adopting flexible automation and increase overall productivity.
“Universal Robots India is pleased to partner with Phillips Machine Tools India, a Haas Factory Outlet, in bringing our solutions to the Automated Machine Tending marketplace in India. With Phillips’ extensive installed base and service network pan India, Universal Robots and Phillips India will bring the benefits of democratized & flexible automation to MSMEs, SMEs & OEMs as India emerges from the pandemic with a leaner but more productive & efficient manufacturing sector,” shares Pradeep David, General Manager, South Asia, Universal Robots.
Universal Robots has already sold over 44,000 cobots across the globe, with more than 1,000 UR cobots for tending Haas CNC machines. Phillips Corporation has an installed base of more than 19,000 Haas CNC machines around the world. More than 60 different Haas models can be automated with Universal Robots’ cobot arms. This partnership between the world’s largest distributor of the leading CNC brand and the top collaborative robot brand offers a slew of advantage for India’s manufacturers, combining a Haas-UR solution offered with Phillips’ manufacturing expertise and application know-how to help businesses boost productivity and also prepare for the possibility of any future disruptions.
“Today, more than ever before, it’s all about the competitive edge. We at PHILLIPS Machine Tools India offer innovative, affordable solutions that create an unbeatable competitive advantage for Indian manufacturing. PHILLIPS Automation through Universal Robots offers COBOTS: collaborative robots that provide cost-effective, flexible, and safe automation solutions for a wide range of CNC machine tending tasks. With over 10,000+ CNC machines and 10 technical centres spread across India we combine our machine tool expertise and automation experience to help our customers increase their machine productivity through simple, reliable automation, the PHILLIPS way,” says Terrence Miranda, Managing Director, Phillips Machine Tools India.
The companies see tremendous potential in both, retrofitting existing installations with UR cobots, and also for getting through the door to new customers, offering turn-key solutions. After all, there is no hardwiring or complex coding involved in getting a Universal Robot to communicate with a Haas machine since UR has solutions like the VersaBuilt software that facilitates two-way communication between the UR cobot and the CNC. This means UR cobots can easily execute any machining program stored on the Haas CNC directly through the cobot’s own teach pendant, maintaining all Haas safety interlock features. The partnership, thus, endeavors to take manufacturing in India to a whole new level, especially empowering those who are new to automation with a solution that enables Make in India with skyrocketed efficiency and quality.