Assembly Planbook - July 2008 - (Page 12)

Assembly Lines New facilities Mergers orecasts Toyota Increasing Capacity in China TOKYO—Toyota’s Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co. subsidiary plans to increase capacity at its Plant No. 2 in Tianjin, China, from 100,000 to 150,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2009. The increase will boost Toyota’s total Chinese production capacity to 470,000 vehicles annually. Complementing the effort is a plan to establish a new research and development center in the area. Currently, Toyota’s China subsidiary, established in partnership with China’s FAW Group, employs 12,100 people and represents a total capital investment of about $400 million. Prab Robots Inc., which eventually acquired Unimation from Westinghouse. By 1990, Prab had more than 10,000 robots installed in North America. A past recipient of the prestigious Joseph F. Engelberger Inventions Unit sales of robots in North America were down, but revenue was up in the first three months of 2008. North American Robot Sales Mixed ANN ARBOR, MI—The ﬁrst quarter of 2008 was a mixed one for robotics companies, with unit sales down 17 percent, but revenue up 5 percent, according to a report by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA). The industry also experienced increased sales to nonautomotive customers. “In the nonautomotive sector, we saw revenue growth of 116 percent in food and consumer goods. In semiconductors-electronics-photonics, unit orders were up 58 percent and revenue was up 96 percent. When we come to metals, orders in both units and revenue were up 50 percent. Also, plastics and rubber were up 50 percent,” says Ake Lindqvist, group vice president of ABB Robotics and chairman of RIA’s statistics committee. In all, North American robotics companies sold a total of 3,828 robots valued at $288.1 million in the ﬁrst quarter of 2008. When sales to companies outside North America are included, the totals climb to 4,281 robots valued at $311.3 million, a decline of 15 percent in units and a gain of 6 percent in revenue. According to RIA, the ﬁrst-quarter numbers continue a downturn in purchases by the automotive industry that began in late 2007. In the ﬁrst quarter of 2008, sales to automotive manufacturers and their suppliers fell 34 percent in terms of units sold. “Welding and coating-dispensing orders showed big declines, because these are heavily tied to automotive,” says RIA executive vice president Jeffrey Burnstein. “Assembly and material-handling applications showed gains, because many of these applications are also extensively used in nonautomotive industries.” For more on the report, visit www.roboticsonline.com. 12 ASSEMBLY / July 2008 www.assemblymag.com The robotics industry recently marked the passing of Walter K. Weisel, a pioneer in the field. Robotics Industry Loses Visionary FORT MYERS, FL—Paro Robots CEO Walter K. Weisel died on May 19. A pioneer in the ﬁeld of robotics, Weisel enjoyed a distinguished career that spanned three decades and saw the implementation of robotics technologies in countless new applications in healthcare, space exploration, the military and manufacturing. After spending 10 years at Cincinnati Milacron Inc., Weisel worked with Joseph F. Engelberger—known in the industry as the “Father of Robotics”—at Unimation Inc., the ﬁrst major industrial robotics manufacturer in the United States. During his tenure there, Weisel was in charge of a number of key accounts with customers such as Ford and Chrysler. Weisel later served as CEO at Award for robotics, Weisel also served as CEO of International Business Link and was the founder of Robotic Workspace Technologies, now Coroware Inc. As CEO of Paro Robots, Weisel worked to create therapeutic robots for the elderly. DENSO Electronics Plant Opens in Tennessee MARYVILLE, TN—Automotive supplier DENSO Corp. (Kariya, Japan) has opened a fourth plant in Tennessee, to manufacture remote keyless entry systems, air conditioning control units, tire pressure monitoring systems and body control modules for the automotive industry. http://www.roboticsonline.com http://www.assemblymag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Assembly Planbook - July 2008

Assembly Planbook - July 2008 Contents Editorial Quality in Assembly Station to Station Assembly Lines Assembly in Action Surviving the Roller Coaster The Human Side of Manufacturing Do Your Fasteners Need a Preapplied Thread-Locker? Manufacturing Innovation A Century of Progress Trendsetting Plants Pulse Tools Get Smart Plastics: Design for X Product Reviews Products Advertisers Index Classified Leading Lean

Assembly Planbook - July 2008

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