Mitsubishi Electric had a very busy show at this year’s SPS Drives showcasing a range of new products and solutions from collaborative robots, to modular linear transfer systems and smart carriages, especially as the company was like many, concentrating on the big focus of the show Industry 4.0 and digitalisation. Anna Flockett, Engineering Specifier editor attended the Mitsubishi press breakfast at the SPS show, where the first innova...

At this year’s SPS Drives show in Nuremberg, Mitsubishi Electric was highlighting the benefits of the PLC as a platform for automation, with a complete set of dedicated CPU modules for the MELSEC iQ-R Series PLC. A CNC CPU module and a robot control CPU now complement the existing options for analogue and digital I/O, motion, positioning, process control, safety and networking, delivering a solution that integrates the full suite of control...

There is a current project underway at the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) which is looking at 3D printing from a totally different angle - where the emphasis is placed on meaningful expression, rather than the accurate reproduction of digital data, and at the centre of the project lies a flexible Mitsubishi Electric MELFA RV-7FLM articulated arm industrial robot.

EMO 2017 saw Mitsubishi demonstrating innovative predictive maintenance possibilities for robots that can reduce operational costs, increase asset productivity and improve process efficiency. The cloud-based solution is based on the AI platform within IBM Watson, which enables the smart analysis of operational data to highlight maintenance requirements.

  As manufacturing environments become increasingly competitive, businesses need flexibility, improved productivity, and the capability to make gains in efficiency and reductions in down-time. Mitsubishi Electric is showing how these requirements can be met with a focus on connected production systems, intelligent control systems, Edge Computing solutions and smart services at EMO 2017.

They have always been established as the best way of providing up to the minute information about processes, and it didn’t take long for users to realise that there is more to HMIs as the data held within controllers and HMIs was a goldmine that could help them maximise efficiency and minimise down-time.

Hiroshima Rapid Transit Company has placed an order for 66 carriages (11 trains) with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which will be supplied to the Hiroshima New Transit Line 1, also known as the ‘Astram Line’, an Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system operating in Hiroshima City, Japan.

Working together Mitsubishi Electric and system integrator TQC have built a new production line for a customer where robots and automation have been combined with an OEE monitoring system to ensure assembly and testing work is carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible.

  There are a many people now invested in working towards achieving the goals set out by Industry 4.0. For a concept that started life as a German government strategy project it is fair to say that it has captured the imaginations of many engineers and futurists from around the globe.

A new automated cartridge refill cell developed by a team of UK maintenance engineers has been built around a Mitsubishi Electric articulated arm robot. The cell quickly and accurately refills printer cartridges, making the company’s recycling programme more cost effective to operate. The solution has proved so successful that it is now being rolled-out to other plants around the world.

  The life sciences industry is always address production challenges that we face, and looking further into this, Neal Welch of Mitsubishi Electric explains how in demanding applications such as the manipulating of live cultures, robots are in a league of their own.

Prototypes of two firefighting robots have been developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI): the 'Water Cannon Robot' and the 'Hose Extension Robot'. They are expected to play an active role in situations where it is difficult for firefighters to approach, for example at fires in petrochemical facilities. The 'Water Cannon Robot' can effectively extinguish fires where people cannot reach, while the 'Hose Extension Robot' automatically lays out...

It has been announced that Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) will be working through Enspire ME, a 50/50 joint venture established between MC and Eneco, an integrated energy company from the Netherlands, to provide services based on a large-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).

Demonstrating a new compact ‘Direct Teach Pendant’ for small robots and a quality improving pick-to-light system for manual assembly tasks at the Med-Tech Innovation show this year is Mitsubishi Electric. Mitsubishi Electric is on Stand 54a for the Med-Tech Innovation show at the RICOH Arena, Coventry from 26th-27th April 2017.

Distec has presented Mitsubishi’s 10.4" TFT display AT104XH11 with XGA resolution (1024x768), a real power pack for challenging industrial applications: the display offers a brightness of 1300cd/m² and a symmetrical viewing angle of v/h 160/160°. It is designed for a wide operating temperature range of -40 to 85°C.

Under the ever-growing pressure to reduce costs, the food processing industry are also encouraged to simultaneously boost quality, guarantee food safety, and operate with smaller and smaller batch sizes. Jeremy Shinton of Mitsubishi Electric looks at how trends in connectivity are helping to address these requirements.

Mitsubishi Electric has recently welcomed APT Automation as member of the e-F@ctory Alliance. They are a key provider of automation and production technology solutions. The two businesses collaborate closely to address industry challenges such as improved productivity, increased overall equipment effectiveness and greater production line flexibility.

Mitsubishi Electric highlighted its solutions for Edge Computing and support for Cloud Computing as businesses look to reap the benefits of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) at SPS IPC Drives 2016. The Edge Computing solutions are built on local control platforms to provide filtering and pre-processing of production data from intelligent devices, and at the same time facilitate communications to a broad range of standard and niche cloud se...

Mitsubishi has announced that CDP, a global disclosure system for companies and governments to manage their environmental impacts, has given Mitsubishi its highest rank, the A List, in two categories, water and climate. The CDP Water 2016 A List honour recognises Mitsubishi as the only company in the 'Industrials' category, making outstanding contributions to water resource cultivation.

Mitsubishi Electric announced that  Mitsubishi Electric elevators have achieved three GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles for the following record categories: Fastest lift (elevator), Tallest lift (elevator) in a building and Fastest double-deck lift (elevator). All three models are operating in the 632-meter Shanghai Tower, China’s tallest building. Mitsubishi Electric received the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS certificates during a cere...