There are many intertwining trends driving developments in the broad field of linear motion systems – from the push for more integrated systems to new applications incorporating linear motion components to better performance and efficiency. Not to mention the coronavirus pandemic, which has touched every facet of life including manufacturing. We surveyed some leading linear motion manufacturers about trends in the industry, and this is what they told us.
What are your thoughts on the increasingly common process for outsourcing the design of motion subassemblies such as stages, gantries, and XY tables?
Emerson
Florent Orget, Product Marketing Manager, Actuators at Fluid Control & Pneumatics
The demands on handling systems are rising while design and construction times are crunched. Outsourcing the design of motion assemblies can help meet those demands while saving engineering time and costs. For example, Emerson’s AVENTICSTM Series Easy-2-Combine Interface is a standardized mounting interface that simplifies machine design and construction. Easy to operate, the interface makes it possible to combine mini slide, rodless cylinders and rotary modules into multi-axis systems without additional connection plates.
Bosch Rexroth
Richard Vaughn – Automation Engineering Manager
Over the past 5 to 10 years, machine builders have transitioned from buying linear components to buying more completed modules. This allows these customers to buy one part number from one source as a solution as opposed to multiple part numbers from various venders.
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
With regards to outsourcing motion subassemblies there are several options that make this a worthwhile decision on the customers’ part. When seeking lowest total cost of ownership, using an experienced partner not only can save critical internal resources but also uses the experience and knowledge of the engineering teams.
This also ensures correct sizing controls the actual cost of the products. It can also protect the customer from overpaying for the product and helps keep them at a competitive market price. Plus, life calculations will drive the company’s safety and warranty guidelines. It will also allow for proper understanding of the ongoing maintenance requirement relating to lubrication and installation techniques.
Are you seeing an increase in demand for miniaturization or integration of feedback devices in linear components?
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
Miniaturization is a focus in those applications requiring smaller, space saving linear motion components. We now offer a new 5-mm linear guide, with applications in the semiconductor and lkife sciences fields.
Feedback devices are in many applications as tighter accuracies are expected. Positioning scales ground onto the rail or bonded to the side of the profile rail offer more accurate readings and higher tolerances than traditional encoders located on the rear shaft of the motor or others. Glass scales have many issues from protection in dirty environments to expensive costs. Schneeberger offers our optical Miniscale system and AMS Magnetic Monorail guide which are integrated into the rails which offer reduced instillation time, greater accuracies, less maintenance and longer life.
Nippon Pulse
Allie Kuester
Absolutely, the linear shaft motor technology decreases size and increases power per square inch for linear motion due to its efficiency of magnet utilization.
Bosch Rexroth
Volker Desch – VP Linear Motion Technology
Integration of feedback devices has become more common in linear components, an example of this would be the IMS-C. With IMS-C, there is no additional measuring device required. Traditionally, the measuring device is difficult to add because of the machine alignment, but IMS-C makes this seamless with the sensor integrating into the runner block.
Emerson
Florent Orget, Product Marketing Manager, Actuators at Fluid Control & Pneumatics
We are seeing an increased demand, like for our AVENTICS SM6-AL distance measuring sensors. With a measurement precision of ± 0.1 mm, SM6-AL distance measuring sensors ensure the reliability of processes and precision in automation applications. A control element on the sensor allows for intuitive setting of the zero point and variable selection of the distance measurement range.
Are you seeing any recent design trends in linear guides, slides, and ways?
Bosch Rexroth
Volker Desch – VP Linear Motion Technology
Yes. One trend we’re seeing is that customers are looking to purchase components in a bundle instead of individual parts. This offers a more complete solution to their needs than the individual parts. An example of this would be the Smart Function Kit, which includes not only the mechanical components, but also the electrical hardware and software, ready for integration.
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
After 22 years and over 11 million guide carriages we have supplied Schneeberger is constantly improving and increasing customer satisfaction in our product offerings. Some of the changes we have implemented are focused on the following improvements, longer life, less maintenance, decreased lubrication interval, lower friction, smoother motion and ultimately lower cost to our customer base.
- Serviceability: Our newly designed carriages are equipped with double-lipped wipers all around. This new version is easy to service, especially on older versions: After first removing the steel front plate, the cross wipers can be exchanged by pulling them up and over the rail in an axial direction.
- Application-oriented lubricant distribution – configuration visible from outside pressure-tight lubrication channels – lubrication at standstill shock resistance:
- Rigidity-optimized carriage steel body
- Sturdiness: A robust front panel made of stainless-steel, stable fastened front panels, and an advanced double-lipped cross-wiper offer exceptional smooth running characteristics.
Has your company seen increased activity or demand from customers in any specific industries or application areas?
Nippon Pulse
Allie Kuester
The largest growth area has been in the field of life sciences. However, we’ve also seen growth in moving high amounts of load in food processing and conveyor systems. There is also demand for high-precision motion for optics on COVID digital pathology imagers as well as for scanning ultrasonic heads for semiconductor wafer fabrication.
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
Emerging markets like life sciences and medical are growing exponentially, due to the COVID pandemic along with the baby-boomer generation. This should continue in the coming years and are focused markets for Schneeberger. We have built a brand-new plant for these products to enhance our capacities in order to support this industry.
Another faster growing market is 3D additive manufacturing and bio-printing. To address the demands of these market segments, Schneeberger has designed and engineered products to address these requirements. Smaller, faster and smoother movement along with less vibration are a few factors that are required in this fast-paced market.
Bosch Rexroth
Volker Desch – VP Linear Motion Technology, Bosch Rexroth
We saw increases in need for semiconductor products and medical products. In the semiconductor industry, electric vehicles and other devices continue to have need in this area. Additionally, medical automation saw an increase due to needs from the coronavirus and engineering responding accordingly.
Speaking of the coronavirus, has the pandemic impacted your business in any significant ways?
Nippon Pulse
Allie Kuester
COVID 19 has effected many business in many ways although due to the many life science applications and NPA providing increased product solutions it has balanced out slowing businesses in other fields.
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
The Pandemic has obviously impacted all companies globally. Many industries like machine tool have been affected negatively but other industries as mentioned, have doubled or even tripled in volume. Schneeberger has always been a primary vendor for many of these companies, which have required a shift in our manufacturing to address the need for increased capacity.
Bosch Rexroth
Richard Vaughn – Automation Engineering Manager
Although business slowed in some areas, we saw increases in the needs of the semiconductor industry and medical industry. Areas most affected were automotive, machine tools, and aerospace.
Emerson
Florent Orget, Product Marketing Manager, Actuators at Fluid Control & Pneumatics
Absolutely. As an essential manufacturer, we’re dedicated to supporting the critical infrastructure industries we serve, both in the fight against COVID-19 and those that provide the essentials people need worldwide. For example, we’ve expedited our Series G3 Fieldbus electronics and Series 502 valve systems to help our customers increase face mask production.
We saw an immediate and significate increase in demand from our customers and OEMs who manufacture breathing therapy products including portable oxygen concentrators and ventilators. We produce a series of miniature instrument level valves for analytical and medical equipment predominately in the manufacturing of oxygen therapy devices. Demand for our Branson ultrasonic welders that are used in the manufacturing of PPE also significantly increased. In addition, we have and still are receiving calls from OEMs for our Branson laser, pulsetaking and ultrasonic plastic welders used in the material joining of medical grade plastics in a vast variety of patient care products ranging from microfluidic devices to in-vitro diagnostic tests, infusion pumps to syringes.
To ensure the safety of our employees and customers, we’ve transformed the ways we engage. From the virtual Emerson Road Show to online learning resources, we’re finding new ways to keep our customers informed, connected and educated during the pandemic.
Do you offer any selector, sizing, or sales software to customers, and how have these tools changed how design engineering is done? Any value-add services or in-house engineering support that you provide to OEMs or customers?
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
Schneeberger has over the past 95 years focused its priorities on sizing and calculating proper products for our customers. We offer a sizing and selection software program along with many online tools that provide our customers with the most updated information to help in their design process. The value add is our ability to cross sell products allowing our customers to rely on us as part of their installation process and in many cases save time and money. When a customer has a pain point in their design criteria, they often call on our engineering team to assist and evaluate problems and then offer various solutions.
Bosch Rexroth
Volker Desch – VP Linear Motion Technology
From the beginning of the customer journey, we offer sizing, selection, and configuration tools across all products. We offer different software options like LinSelect and LMD (Linear Motion Designer). The next trend here is eliminating software for commissioning, as the Smart Function Kit for pressing already offers software.
Emerson
Florent Orget, Product Marketing Manager, Actuators at Fluid Control & Pneumatics
The free Emerson CylinderFinder is an interactive online tool that helps users find the perfect cylinder for their application. To use the tool, users describe their intended application in terms of loads, cycle times, system pressure, mounting orientation and more. Then, CylinderFinder provides recommended cylinder sizes and versions that meet those parameters. Results can be filtered out to consider the environmental requirement of the application, like working temperature, corrosion resistance, plus recommended valve sizes and hose dimensions. By simplifying pneumatic cylinder selection (it searches 18 product series with a total of 1,700 possible cylinder variations), users can confidently get the most appropriated cylinder they need the first time, saving time and money. We have other free calculation tools, including air consumption calculators, available online, too.
What about any programs in training or e-learning that you use or have developed for internal use or that aid customers in the design process?
Schneeberger
Ross Blumenthal, Vice President for Sales and Marketing
Schneeberger has internal e-learning and internal training programs for our staff and external sales group. Our internal sales, engineering, customer service and manufacturing representative teams are constantly being trained and updated on various product improvements and services to better assist our customers. Additionally, we offer our customers several programs such as no-cost webinars, lunch and learns, and engineering support for their R&D and design teams.
Bosch Rexroth
Richard Vaughn – Automation Engineering Manager
Yes, we have internal tools for training and e-learning. We believe that these tools are important for understanding and use of different products. For some of our component products, we have youtube videos available online of product how-to’s that are available to the public.
Filed Under: Linear Motion Tips
