3M & Eckhart Announce Successful Development of the Collaborative Robot-based 3M Automated Taping System

3M, a global leader in consumer and industrial material sciences, and Eckhart, an Industry 4.0 solutions pioneer, today announced the successful launch of the 3M™ Automated Taping System (ATS), a collaborative robot-based automated tape application system jointly developed by both companies for the automotive and industrial market.

The 3M ATS is designed and commercially available for innovative automotive and industrial customers that seek to automate manual processes involving 3M™ Attachment Tapes. 3M ATS leverages industry standard robotic components and best practices to deliver a flexible, simple, and cost-effective solution. Both 3M and Eckhart believe significant opportunities exist in the automotive and industrial space to use the 3M ATS to apply adhesion promoters, create extended liner tabs, and precisely position cut-to-length tape or die cuts onto components.

“At 3M we apply science in collaborative ways to improve life. A significant majority of our global customer base today, applies tape manually. The manual process is labor intensive, prone to repetitive tasks that create ergonomic issues for employees, and often results in significant rework. We recognized an opportunity to collaborate with a technology partner that has been working in the industrial automation space for over 60 years. Our goal was to jointly develop an automated solution that delivers real value to 3MTM Attachment Tape customers all over the world,” said Rachel Moses, US Business Manager, 3M Automotive and Aerospace Solutions Division. “The 3M Automated Taping System utilizes collaborative robot technology to optimize ergonomic safety, first-time quality, and productivity while reducing the factory footprint required to apply tape where the systems are deployed.”

“We’re proud to partner with an innovative company like 3M that is committed to bringing the next generation of tape automation to the market,” said Eckhart’s Vice President of Business Development, Daniel Burseth. “Leveraging the decades of experience both companies have serving Fortune 500 companies all over the world, we believe the 3M Automated Taping System will fundamentally change how companies handle and apply millions of linear feet of 3M Attachment Tape every week throughout the world.”

Source: businesswire.com