In 1911, a machine was patented that could feed sheet metal through a pair of polishing rolls and spiff up the metal just as nicely as if a human being spent hours polishing it. The trick was to send one of the rolls in one direction and the other roll in the opposite direction, at… Read more »

Have you been thinking about changing to a new brand of servo motors, drives, and controls? If so, we’ve got another question for you: have you had a sales call lately? If so, that salesperson probably got you talking about frustration you sometimes feel with your machinery. Pain points. Bad days when you hate that… Read more »

Rexroth is a leader in the evolution of Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things in action. The technology is there, but adoption of the new technology is slow. Why? Take your pick from the most popular reasons: Security concerns Company culture Business plans Up-front investment Here’s another possibility being discussed: engineers. Specifically, machine designers…. Read more »

Next time you see some guy drowning his sorrows in a solitary beer, don’t assume he’s morose because he lost his girl. He might have lost his parameters. Rexroth legacy electric motion control relies on programmed parameters, and if they’re lost (perhaps with a careless pushing of the S1 button at the wrong moment), you’ve… Read more »

What’s behind the slowdown in wages and the loss of high-paying jobs? Ask around in the office or at Happy Hour and you’ll get answers ranging from conspiracy theories to political rants, but many economists would boil it down to just two words: automation and globalization. Their thinking is that American corporations can throw jobs… Read more »

The Skills Gap has been on the minds of manufacturers for years. Every year, we’re told, more qualified industrial workers retire and fewer graduate. Young Americans don’t choose to work in factories — and if they wanted to, they’d be hampered in modern factories by their lack of training in math, science, engineering, and technology…. Read more »

Rexroth industrial motion control rarely needs service or repair, and that’s a good thing. After all, you can’t just run down to your local repair shop. Even if a local servo repair shop exists in your neighborhood, Rexroth doesn’t sell parts or provide certification for third party repair shops. You don’t know where they’ll get… Read more »

Open source and open core are essential for successful movement into IIoT and Industry 4.0. This video explains how open core increases efficiency and effectiveness in manufacturing environments. The video discusses the four areas of open core: Model based engineering and rapid control prototyping Individual functions IT automation Smart devices Open core libraries speed up development… Read more »

A lot of our clients contact us because they’ve found a cabinet, possibly by tracking a cable from a broken piece of machinery to that cabinet, and upon opening it for the first time in human memory, they find a servo motor labeled “Indramat.” Googling the word tells them that Rexroth now owns Indramat, and… Read more »

Where were you on December 23, 2014? Some Rexroth engineers were in Italy, where the earthquake testing equipment they had been working on for six months was being lifted into its building before the roof was put into place. 37 tons of steel had been brought in my truck and a giant crane had come… Read more »