ABB’s FlexLoader M brings modularity to machine tending

ABB has launched a new family of modular machine-tending application cells for the metals industry aimed at maximizing flexibility and machine utilization while minimizing lost productivity caused by unforeseen production stoppages. Featuring six different versions, the FlexLoader M family offers a variety of ways of loading and unloading machines based on the size, shapes and amount of the workpieces being handled, making it ideal for applications such as foundries and die casting operations producing multiple types of products in varying quantities, notes ABB. “As customers demand greater variety and shorter delivery times, metals producers need to have a manufacturing process that can respond quickly and offer the flexibility to achieve high mix, low volume and batch size one production,” says Andrea Cassoni, managing director for business line general industry for ABB Robotics. “FlexLoader M is accelerating this move by providing a single unified machine-tool tending platform offering the flexibility needed for handling a wide variety of production demands, whilst also improving productivity by eliminating the time, cost and disruption traditionally associated with production changes.”