FANUC, Rockwell Automation Announce Collaboration

FANUC Corp. (Rochester Hills, Michigan) and Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) have announced a global collaboration to provide customers with a more seamless and integrated manufacturing solutions. The agreement expands the companies’ initial collaboration that began four years ago, bringing further integration between CNC and Logix programmable automation controller (Logix PAC) environments with further integration of robotics, Robomachines and enterprise software products. The effort will specifically impact the automotive industry, providing customers with an integrated plug-and-play automation and information solution.

The integration, which was demonstrated at IMTS 2014, provides benefits such as simplified architectures, faster startups, improved platform synchronization and transparent data access. Examples showcased at IMTS included a fully integrated automotive machining cell featuring FANUC Robodrills and CNCs integrated with Rockwell Automation Logix PAC; a Rockwell HMI operating a FANUC robot; and a fenceless FANUC robot system using Rockwell safety sensors. Similar demonstrations are planned for future industry events, including JIMTOF, October 30 to November 4, 2014.