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Automate the World Universal Robots is changing the dynamics of manufacturing; complementing - rather than replacing - the labour force with advanced technologies Writer: Matthew Staff | Production Manager: Tom Arnold
niversal Robots has quickly changed the face of manufacturing automation over the past 12 years via a concerted drive to make robotics more accessible and flexible for businesses of all sizes. Initially targeted towards the SME segment of the market, the Company’s UR3, UR5 and UR10 robotic arm products have not only revolutionised internal processes for the unsung heroes of manufacturing, but are now etching their way into the shop floors of larger industry players as they too search for enhanced agility and more sustainable consumer trend adherences. “It all began in 2003 when I was working at the Technical University of Denmark on various projects, where the idea was to make an easy-to-use and easy-to-programme flexible robot arm that gave more flexibility to the factories and more ownership to people working the robots,” explains the Company’s co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Esben Ostergaard. Universal Robots officially incepting two years later in 2005, the products
on show and gracing factories today are essentially the ones derived from these projects; as the business opened people’s eyes to the idea of collaborative robotics. “This market is now bigger than the established industrial robot market and we’re still growing and opening up the potential,” Ostergaard continues. “The traditional robots that were built up for automotive domains initially are now too complicated to build and set up in the modern climate and in other sectors, so what we wanted to do was build a new kind of robot; still an arm but much more revolved around flexibility. “Initially we targeted SMEs because we knew that the existing larger robots were geared towards the bigger customers, but we have since realised that the larger companies also have a big need for flexibility. And the reason is that consumer behaviour is changing all the time and they need to be able to react to that. Manufacturing equipment has to be all the more flexible and re-adjustable and it turns out that our products are spot on to meet this need.”
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