The complexity of highly synchronized and automated screen printing lines that Cugher has designed over its decades of activity has inevitably led the company to add robotic solutions to its offer, which are now essential in the modern industry and true allies of humans.
Industrial robots, and in this specific context robotic arms, initially developed to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, are nowadays essential tools to simplify complex or dangerous operations. This technology brings numerous benefits: on one hand, processing quality improves because operations are more precise, fast, and uniform; on the other hand, labor costs decrease compared to manual activities, as well as the direct risks for operators related to the handling of hazardous tools or materials diminish. Last but not least, the quality of the operator’s work improves because they now act as supervisors of technology rather than direct executors of repetitive and exhausting tasks.
Cugher was among the first companies in the world to automate the screen printing process on flat glass, and the recent introduction of robotic applications, made possible by years of specialization in industrial automation, demonstrates the company’s full intent to pursue progress and to provide its customers with increasingly comprehensive systems that increase efficiency and decrease process costs.
Cugher adds to its offer multifunctional and versatile devices, whose hardware depends on the choice of the robot supplier (including prominent names such as ABB, Fanuc, Kuka), and whose software programming is directly managed by Cugher professionals, experts in writing various codes acquired through specific training. The consultancy approach that Cugher adopts with its customers leads to suggest the optimal solution for robot purchase through a dedicated study for each project, which includes careful evaluation of specifications, available spaces, existing or future machinery, and requiring exclusive feasibility studies from potential robot application suppliers. Often, however, it is the customer, already a user of robotic solutions, who chooses the supplier, and in such cases, Cugher adds its know-how for code writing and tool manipulation design.
In the landscape of flat glass plants, and more generally in the industry of handling sheets of different materials, Cugher proposes the use of anthropomorphic robots with up to 6 axes of movement, allowing great flexibility in operations. However, what defines the robot within the plant is the tool, the instrument placed at the end of the robotic arm, designed to manipulate objects and specific to the required processing/movement, allowing the applicability of the technology. Along with the tool, Cugher experts evaluate, design, and produce, if necessary, all the surrounding handling based on the operation required by the specific production line specifications. Thus, Cugher is both an integrator of robotic solutions and a single supplier for the entire screen printing line, from loading to unloading.
Cugher implements two families of solutions in its projects: robotic islands for material handling and coupling the robot system with vision systems.
Robotic islands are sets of machines, organized within an automatic working area, which include robot manipulators controlled automatically. Among robotic islands, Cugher successfully designs mainly loading/unloading and palletizing islands, ensuring the continuity of operations. Through robotic islands, productivity increases significantly, and each island can always be quickly converted if the company needs to change the type of processing.
The solution that includes coupling the robot system with vision systems guarantees a constant quality standard because the vision system communicates essential information in real-time to the robot, which reacts accordingly. This combination proves effective when automatic handling is not always precise, while processing requires extremely accurate positioning. The robot collaborates with the vision system to make different adjustments each time. Vision systems have always been an integral part of Cugher’s product range, but the company has the necessary expertise to integrate third-party systems with its robots.
Cugher has built its reputation by always putting the customer first, and the introduction of functional robotic technology into its projects shows the company’s commitment to being an increasingly solid and competent partner in every aspect. Screen printing plants and the handling of flat glass have been the productive soul of the company until now, but today Cugher is proud to announce its commitment to be a turnkey supplier and/or integrator of automated robotic solutions.