With the aerospace industry as focused as ever on containing costs, KUKA Systems Aerospace is pioneering breakthrough innovation in the automation of entire assembly and sub-assembly lines. It’s a trend leading increasingly to major investments in new manufacturing strategies.
“Who will be able to afford the aircraft of tomorrow? This is the aerospace industry’s overriding concern,” says Robert Reno, Director Aerospace for KUKA Systems North America. “Increasingly, our orientation at KUKA Aerospace is towards designing and building largescale automation solutions that deliver significant cost savings to partially offset the enormous development expense associated with launching these aircraft.”
KUKA Systems Aerospace, a five year old initiative, aggregates the research and product development activity of KUKA Systems Group aerospace divisions in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. From the start, it has drawn on one of the parent company’s core competences – developing automated technologies – to produce a robust and still growing portfolio of KUKA tools and solutions for specific airframe manufacturing operations. These include automatic laser welding and automated panelisation systems as well as multifunctional robot end effectors for drilling, sealant and fastener insertion. It has developed much of the portfolio in-house, on its own or in conjunction with partners with complementary expertise. The KUKA Systems Aerospace Multi-Functional End Effector, which can drill, hole-probe and temporarily fasten in a single setup incorporates a Novator orbital drilling unit. KUKA Automated Panelisation Systems combine KUKA robots and control technology with Gemcor’s All Electric Drilling/Fastening machine.
Now KUKA Systems is leveraging another core competence – its wealth of experience as a leading systems integrator that designs, installs and commissions entire assembly lines for industries like automotive and solar panel manufacturing. This dual competence as technology provider and integrator is being applied to ground-breaking automation projects that promise faster, more cost effective assembly of new aircraft.