Monthly Archives: December 2014

Owning a robot army isn’t a goal for many firms, but leave it to innovative and trendsetting Amazon to be among the few that can. The Seattle online retailer has outfitted several U.S. warehouses with short, orange, wheeled robots that move stocked shelves to workers, instead of having the workers seek items amid the long… Read more »

3D printing continues to be a source of excitement in manufacturing. The ability to create prototypes and replacement parts all at the point of use with less waste is fairly revolutionary. But going further, the technology actually allows for the creation of structures that were impossible with previous technologies. A group from the University of… Read more »

Most of us are surrounded by a bunch of stuff at any given moment. Most of these things are not iPads, 787s, or Rexroth servo motors. Most of the ‘stuff’ we interact with is small, simple, and plastic: pens, buckets, packages, containers, utensils, and the waste bins you dispose of them in. All of these… Read more »

If there’s one thing Henry Ford taught us, it’s that assembling products part by part instead of finishing one object completely before going on to the next is actually quite efficient. With servos, drives, and controls to automate the movement, this type of production allows for complicated products from Roombas to Fitbits to be profitable… Read more »

We’ve been keeping an eye on the list of occupations expected to be replaced by robots in the next decade.   Loan officers are pretty much doomed, as are bartenders, security guards, fast food workers, and — as we can see here — retail workers. Lowe’s has been trying out robots with large screens that can… Read more »

It’s no secret that Rexroth is a big supporter of all types of innovation. Whether it takes place on the factory floor, in a boardroom or on a computer program, these new ideas and the creators who turned them into a reality deserve commendation. That’s exactly what The Economist did when it recognized talented individuals… Read more »

  Rexroth’s Indramat and Indradrive motors are an integral part of the manufacturing process at plants around the world. But there’s something even more essential to manufacturing. The most critical components are the trained men and women who operate the necessary tools to keep the manufacturing process alive. For this reason, it’s worth making sure… Read more »

3-D printing is being used to make everything from firearms to casts for broken bones to car parts. However we seldom hear how 3D printing is affecting fashion. Seldom, it’s true, do we even wonder how it’s affecting fashion. We may not ask the question, but it has an interesting answer anyway. Nervous System, a… Read more »