How to achieve high speeds during production

Many industries across the world have the need for speed — high speed. Companies need to get more done in less time. How do they achieve increased productivity?

Material handling equipment plays a huge role in increasing productivity. Handling and production processes in the semiconductor, packaging, pharmaceutical and food industries have to be systematically optimized to achieve success. The use of individual high-speed components is the first step on the way to more efficient production, because the entire potential of optimized production is only possible in the perfect interplay of many components. 

High-speed production processes place high requirements on the technologies and materials used. To achieve maximum accelerations and speeds, the masses being moved must be as low as possible. Schunk, a manufacturer of toolholding, workholding and automation components, uses high-strength aluminum alloys, and lightweight plastics and carbon fibre composites to eliminate unnecessary weight. 

In the field of linear technology, linear motors are the first choice for drives for high-speed applications. They combine maximum accelerations and speeds with the greatest possible precision, in a manner that cannot be outperformed. Linear direct drives enable positioning accuracies of 0.01 mm with accelerations of up to 40 m/s² and feed rates of five m/s. Since they require neither classical rotation motors nor gears or toothed belts, they are not only extremely compact, but also very wear-resistant — ideal prerequisites for reliable high-speed solutions.

Once this optimization of components has been achieved, the results are impressive — e.g., an application for the food industry, in which an optimized picker system consisting of fast robot kinematics components and Schunk gripper units can pick and place up to 650 pieces per minute.

Highly dynamic linear systems, extremely fast rotary units, lightning-fast grippers, very lightweight and strong materials, and fast sensors and controllers are the components on which the success of all high-speed production must build.

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