ABB was recognised for its achievements in technical innovation and application development at the China Industrial Robot Show (CIROS) in Shanghai. The Zurich power and automation group’s YuMi robot was named one of the best industrial robots of 2016. It is the first truly collaborative robot in the world, writes ABB in a statement.
YuMi works together with people to manufacture consumer electronics. It increases flexibility and improves quality to help meet the challenges of increasingly diverse consumer needs, such as more customised products and higher quality expectations. As ABB explains, production is shifting from mass production of the same product to producing small units of more diverse products for a shorter business cycle.
“ABB is working closely with its customers to help transform their manufacturing and find new ways of unlocking the flexible, efficient ‘factory of the future,’ today. Collaborative automation will certainly play a large part in this journey,” said Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion division.
ABB’s robot is of special interest to China, where its Made in China 2025 Strategy aims to transform the country into a global manufacturing leader with a focus on being strong, and not just big.
CIROS is one of the world’s largest robot technology events, and the Golden Finger award is YuMi’s second award of the year; in April 2016 it was awarded the Invention and Entrepreneurship Award (IERA) at the Automatica trade fair in Munich.
