Aluminum Extrusions: The Backbone of Industrial Automation

When we think of technology, we usually think of wires, lights, and motion. While many technological aspects include those features, not all technology requires them. An essential piece of technology for industrial automation that is not powered by electricity, contains no lights, and only moves when someone moves it, is aluminum structural framing. Bosch Rexroth aluminum extrusion has been the literal foundation and framework of many industrial automation tasks for many years. While this technology is not new to Bosch Rexroth, it is new to Morrell Group through the recently launched Aluminum Extrusion Stocking Program, exclusively available in Indiana, USA.

In the 1970s, Bosch Rexroth created aluminum extrusion for internal use only in automotive plants and production lines, according to Chad Johnson, the national distribution manager of Bosch Rexroth's Assembly Technology Group - this week's special guest. However, its flexibility and versatility quickly became apparent, and a need for aluminum extrusion grew in the marketplace. Some application areas include autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), collaborative robots, conveyance technology, framing, machine guarding, material flow, material racks, material transport, manual production systems, robotics, and workstations.

As a long-standing technology, many competitors have come into play over the years. Still, Bosch Rexroth's aluminum extrusion features two significant characteristics that make it stand out: flexibility and ease of use.

First, Rexroth aluminum extrusion is highly flexible and fully configurable, meaning it can easily be manufactured to any application's exact specifications. For example, Rexroth's manual production system lines utilize aluminum extrusion and all its mechanical components to optimize the line. Through characteristics like height adjustability, electronic components, value stream, and flow rack technology, aluminum profiles help to create lean, ergonomic workspaces for manual process system lines.

Second, Rexroth aluminum extrusion is easy to use physically and digitally. Rexroth resources for extruded aluminum framing simplify the process of receiving info - like application specs - and designing the aluminum extrusion itself. These software resources include MTpro, a full-scale software tool, and FRAMEpro, which is a plug-in tool for other CAD software that design engineers prefer to use. These software systems contain a library of parts and provide a bill of materials (BOM).

Integration is seamless and easy with a vast product offering. Aluminum extrusion complements many other technologies, making it a perfect fit for the Factory of the Future. In fact, this technology will only grow as automation continues to evolve.

To learn more about Morrell's Aluminum Extrusion Stocking Program, visit https://morrell-group.com/aluminum-extrusion-stocking-program/. To learn more about Bosch Rexroth and its resources, visit https://www.boschrexroth.com/en/us/.