[00:00:00] Speaker A: Flexible main task is to get the part separated and singulated for a vision system to locate them. The robo can receive the coordinates of the parts and pick them up and put them the mechanical interface of the following automation process.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Robot industry podcast. We're glad you're here, and thank you for subscribing. My name is Jim Beretta, and I'm your host. And I would like to introduce to you an old friend of mine and a new friend. One of the friends is Chris Round, and the other one is Andrea Mazzini, and they're both from ARs Automation, and they're also the manufacturers of flexible. So I'd like to introduce to you first, Chris Round. Chris and I have known each other for decades, and he is involved with a three the association for advancing automation. He is vice president of sales North America for ARS Automation, and he has a big background in automation as well, through Epson America, Glideline, and through multiple other manufacturing companies. I'd also like to introduce to you then, Andrea Mazzini. He is the managing partner of Ars Automation, and he has had several roles at Ars. He's been the general manager and partner. He's been business development and marketing manager, and he's also been the manufacturing manager. So he's a lot of different roles at ARs Automation. And I wanted to welcome you both. And you're in Italy today, correct?
[00:01:34] Speaker C: That's correct, Jim, and thank you for having us.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Thank you, Jim.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: And we're doing this podcast just ahead of the Automate 2024 show, and you will be displaying it. Automate 2024. And we'll get to your booth number and all this stuff a little bit later. But I just wanted to welcome you both. And Chris, you've just joined Ars, and you're pretty excited about the company and the opportunity. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's actually been a very warm welcoming for me. It's exactly the type of company that makes sense, lines up with my background, my history, and the company itself has been great. It's a large family. They've got amazing culture. It's like this feeling of togetherness that they have is just tremendous. And, you know, they've been very.
I've been involved in calls already and things like that. They're very supportive to customers, very customer centric. And as their process goes, I'm seeing they've been extremely efficient, you know? And as we get into heading over into North America with the product line, they've already been North America for some time now. But I can tell the efficiency that this team works with has been amazing. So it's exciting new venture for me and I couldn't have been, I can't be happier.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Thank you for that. Andrea, there is a lot going on in Italy right now when it comes to automation.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: That's true. So automation business is really an important one for the italian market. So it's plenty of, let's say, custom automation manufacturers as well as, let's say, packaging machinery builders. So especially in the packaging. So Italy is a very important market. So it's full of very good producers. So I read an article once that said 25% of the packaging machineries are produced here in Italy. So I would say there's a lot going on here in this sector. So it's pretty active.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: So can you tell our audience, Andrea, who is Ars?
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Yes, of course. So ArS was founded in 2002 and at that time was a robot distributor for the mediterranean area. At that time we distributed the Adapt robot. Adapt was a Silicon Valley based robotic producer that was just lately, some six, seven years ago was acquired by the Omron groups. And thanks to the experience gained with distributing adapt, we learned that there was, let's say, a lot going on on the feeding side of the automation. That's why in 2000, 920 ten, we came up with our own concept of feeder, a flex feeding one actually. So a flex feeder is a vision based feeder that in feed components flexibly into an automation process.
Let's say today that's ars main business. So we are totally focused on that, on delivering parts to automation processes flexibly. So flexibly means without too much trouble for the customer in performing product changeovers.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: So I guess that's a good segue into my next question. What is flexible?
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Flexible is part of a flex fitting solution. So flexible it's the hardware, a patented one. So we own an international patent on it. So it's the feeding part of the hardware that goes along with a vision system and the robot to make the whole process work flexible, let's say main task is to get the part separated and singulated for a vision system to locate them. And then once the parts are located, the robo can receive the coordinates of the parts and pick them up and put them, let's say, oriented into the mechanical interface of the the following automation process.
What's the big advantage of using a flexible feeder is the possibility to perform product changeovers in a smooth way. So without having to adjust the power feeder too much when doing a changeover and out taking. Let's say too much time consuming activities. So in the end, the end customer will see a benefit fit, especially when doing many, many changeovers, even along the same work shift.
[00:06:43] Speaker B: Chris, what are the major components of the flexible?
[00:06:46] Speaker C: Well, so you have the bowl itself, which is the primary part of it. There is a bumping system that comes underneath to be able to separate the parts. The bowls have many disks to them, and the discs are basically the top surface. If you think of it like a conveyor belt. You know how different conveyors have different top surfaces? We have many different types of discs that we use based on the type of parts. And then, you know, you have the, of course, lighting and you have the back lighting underneath the discs. So you can obviously see the part. And then you have all kinds of things. So you have different type of diverters, mechanisms.
We have vision options. We have different portions of it that help to make sure that the parts don't jump out off the disk. We have an exit area that you can exit the parts to transition other parts to come on. So you can do several different types of parts with the same bowl. And of course, then the customer is going to have a robot that will be used for the system. And then, of course, we can feed the system itself with hoppers that we offer as well. So all of this works out. And I think. I think those that have used it and are seeing it being used, you'll see that the system works very efficiently. And I know Andrea will speak about this as well, but we can work with basically any type of robot.
We can really use any type of vision. There's a few that we like, but it's really up to the customer. We've made this very customer centric. And so that's the primary parts of it. Our sizes, our size of parts that we like to see range anywhere from about zero, you know, very, very, very small to about 300 mm. So that's the sizes. So maybe for some of the previous tray feeders that have been used or other feeders, they may have smaller ranges than we do. That's one of the advantages for us, for a very expensive, inexpensive solution. That's a nice range of products. We also, Jim, as I'm going through this, think about the industries of the medical industry. Plastics, cosmetics, consumer products. Automotive is a big industry for us. So those are, you would think, all of the back into the higher tiers. You know, we're around tier three, four, five tiers is where we are the industries that we are supporting, obviously, in the automotive sector, but certainly all these industries are ones that we support for sure.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Where are you having success, Chris?
[00:09:32] Speaker C: So we're having success in, let's just say, all of, I'll just list some industries that are really working well with us. So automotive, medical, plastic industry, cosmetics, consumer products, which tend to cover a lot. Right. Think assembly and assembly tasks that need to be done. We're feeding all of these assembly operations, much like you would think a feeder would do.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: This question is for Andrea. Andrea, what kind of cycle time?
If I'm a robot integrator or automation integrator, what kind of cycle times are you looking at? And if I have a very small cycle time, how do you sometimes approach it?
[00:10:17] Speaker A: That's a very good question. Jim. Cycle time maybe vary even a lot. So based on how the system works, let's say there is no, the hardware is very flexible. So the hardware is made to accommodate very different components, just as Chris said. So the product ranges from almost zero to 300. We can accommodate all them by changing the flexible size and some of the options that go along with it. So, this being said, so there is no customization on the bull, but what really changes is the outcome out of it. So how do we properly evaluate the outcomes or the throughput of the feeding process? So it's very easy. We do have a very well equipped test centers where we collect customers parts, and we get the part tested in it by our application engineers. So we make, let's say, a full, we simulate the whole process. So we program the vision system, we configure the flexible, we program the flexible parameters, we program the oper and we tune it and the robot program as well. And let's say after the outcome of the testing process for the customer is a nice video showing their components being fed by this whole feeding solution and with an outcome on the cycle time, so they will see with their eyes in, let's say, in production like conditions, so how the parts are fed by our solutions so that they can properly evaluate their projects.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: Andrea, I was. Thank you for that. And I was watching flexibull on LinkedIn, and I saw a system that was, I think, for batteries, and it was, it had two flexibulls, and so that was. And it was very, very fast. I was pretty impressed. So that's one way, too, that you can decrease your cycle time or increase your cycle time to center in your perspective, right.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: It helps a lot. So having a single robot integrated with two different flexible, of course, helps in increasing the cycle time. So there is a, in a configuration like that, like the one you saw on LinkedIn with the Stobli robot. There is a master flexible where the robo picks the parts from, preferably. And then there is the second one that acts as a buffer. So it's only being used when the master flexible rotate, so that the robot never idles.
Another way of making the process faster is to operate the flexible in tracking mode. So the flexible standard operation requires the flexible disk to be still. So the parts are basically located when they are not moving. So if you want to make this process even more efficient, you can operate the flexible in circular track. That's a feature that is available with all the major rubble brand, basically, instead of for the parts being picked while the disk is still, they are being picked, let's say, on the fly. And that increases a lot efficiency of the process. So thanks to circular tracking, we have achieved throughput up to 100 parts. 90, sorry, 100 parts per minute.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: That's very impressive. Thank you for that. Andrea, can you tell us a little bit about the vision systems that you use?
[00:14:13] Speaker A: Yes, of course. So we can, let's say, provide our customers with our own vision system that is backed by Cognix libraries. But let's say, overall, the flexible is either robot and vision system agnostic. So that means that, let's say, any third party's vision system can be integrated in a flexible solution. So whatever is the customer's preference, we can accommodate it. And the same is true for the robot side. So the hardware is really open to the integration with any robot that we can support the communication, too.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Thank you for that. Andrea, does flexibull compete with traditional bowl feeders or other feeding technologies? And maybe, Chris, how do you know when you need flexible?
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Flexible is one of the available solutions when it comes to parts feeding. So, as I said, flexible is a flexible feeding solution. So the main advantage offered by a flex fitting solution is the possibility to perform product very efficiently. So let's say then there is bowl feeders that are, let's say, a perfect solution when you have one type of product that has to be produced in very high volume. So basically, a flex feeder would be the ideal solution for, let's say, high mix, mid to low volumes. Vibratory bulb feeders instead is, let's say, high mix, sorry, low mix, high volumes. And then there is also semi automatic processes where that sees an operator to feed the product into the automatic process. And that's also, let's say, and the flexible, thanks to its flexibility, replaces also some of that as well. And of course, there are other possibility to feed part into the process, like beam peaking. So all those solutions compete, let's say, in the same application for part feeding. And each of them has its own advantages and drawbacks. So I would say that among the flexible feeding process, the flexible. So that. Sorry, the flexible feeding solution, the flexible is one of the most efficient because of what I introduced before. So the possibility to perform, especially in the tracking mode, the possibility to perform simultaneous activities independently.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: Thank you, Andrea. Chris, how do I know I need flexible?
[00:17:09] Speaker C: Yeah, and it's a good question.
And we did talk about some of the industries, but I would say just imagine all kinds of parts from a kitting, packaging mold, feeding press, feeding, quality control, those types of things, screws, machine tending, things like that, maybe delicate parts, parts that are. You have several different kinds of parts, parts that aren't going to be, let's just say a bowl itself, like the traditional bowl, may not be able to handle. That's when you're going to look towards the flexible.
You might have large parts that are a little bit awkwardly shaped or just different.
Could be any kind of just strange shapes, things like that. Those tend to work really well with us. Primarily, you're going to use a suction type of device to pull the part up.
Most of our, our applications are going to be backlit, so think of it that way.
So things that might show really well from a backlight that you. That would be effective.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Andrea, I've seen some pictures of flexibull that had like sections, like pieces of pie, if you like, with different parts in them. Can you tell the audience a little bit about what that entails?
[00:18:32] Speaker A: That's another possible operating mode on the flexible, that is called multiple part fitting. So when cycle time is not too much of a challenge, but there's need to fit multiple and different parts at the same time. So multiple part fitting operating mode is, let's say, the perfect solution because it helps to reduce the investment. So instead of buying separate, for example, vibrating ball with just one flexible split in several sectors, you can, let's say, perform the activity of feeding different components with just one single solution. So it's very helpful for those manufacturing needs that need, let's say, to in feed several and different components, let's say, in the same feeding cell.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: Chris, can you tell us a little bit about what's happening with Ars and flexible and Charlotte?
[00:19:40] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question.
And we're happy to introduce flexibull to the United States as we now have an office in Charlotte. And so we have a support staff there, and we're going to continue to grow as we're moving forward. So there's a staff in place there to assist.
And so that's where all the calls from the United States and let's just say North America. So from Mexico all the way up to Canada, all those calls will be coming through Charlotte and will be managed by my team down there. And that is initiated and we're moving forward. We're excited to open the doors now, and I'm sure we'll be talking a lot about that when we head up to automate coming up here in a few weeks.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: So what about service and support?
[00:20:30] Speaker C: Yeah, so service and support will be both locations, and it will continue to grow in time through Charlotte. Right now, we've got a great support mechanism back here in Italy, and we have plans in place to make sure we have the entire, basically the entire world covered in terms of timing. So those plans are all have been in place and executed and we are moving forward. Those plans will continue to unfold. But if individuals need support ongoing, we certainly have the ability to do that.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: And tell us a little bit about what's happening at the automate show.
[00:21:11] Speaker C: Yeah, so we will be, you know, everyone, I guess, is in the south building. We're in booth 3818. It's kind of, when you walk in, it'll be a little bit to the right and down a few, a few feet or a few booths.
But in the booth we're going to have all of our, all of the different sizes of product that we offer. We might have a few surprises as well. So you're certainly going to want to come by and see some things that we have that people may not know that we do have.
So we're going to have a great staff there. It should be a great week for us, four whole days and in Chicago, and I'm looking forward to it. We're all looking forward to it here at Ars.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Andrea, will you be in Chicago as well?
[00:21:55] Speaker A: I will be in Chicago as well, yes. And let's say looking forward to assisting the visitors and our customers.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: So how do I find out more about ars automation and flexible Chris?
[00:22:11] Speaker C: Yes. So for us, you can go to flexibull.com, flexibowl.com.
There you will find a form that you can fill out and make sure, you know, we get all the information there and then you can hit submit. And so that will come to our team and it will be dependent on in the US or in Europe, the different teams will pick up that information specifically to the team over here. In Italy, you know, that's, they're going to get that right away. They'll be able to respond quickly, or we will get that in the states and be able to respond quickly. If you're trying to get a hold of either Andrea or I, you can see us both on LinkedIn. So please come to LinkedIn to look for us there. And you'll see our email addresses there, of course.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Great. Thank you very much for that, Chris and Andrea, and we will see you at automate in booth 3818.
[00:23:16] Speaker C: Excellent. Thank you, Jim. I appreciate the opportunity for today.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Thank you, Jim, very much for inviting us.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: Our sponsor for this episode is Earhart Automation Systems. Earhart builds and commissions turnkey solutions for their worldwide clients. With over 80 years of precision manufacturing, they understand the complex world of robotics, automated manufacturing, and project management, delivering world class custom automation on time and on budget. Contact one of their sales engineers to see what Earhart can build for you. And they're at
[email protected] and Earhart's hard to spell. It's Ehrhardt. And if you'd like to get in touch with us at the robot industry podcast, you can find me Jim Barretta on LinkedIn. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening. Be safe out there. Today's podcast was produced by customer Attraction Industrial Marketing. And I'd like to thank Chris Gray for the music, Jeffrey Bremner for audio production, my partner Janet, our friends a three, and our sponsor, Earhart Automation systems.
