"Today, state-of-the-art machine racks are the basis for industrial robotics"

Volker Ott, head of the X-frame machine rack department at häwa: "Over the last 80 years, robots have transformed from a futuristic utopia into an integral part of the modern world thanks to enormous technological progress. Currently, the largest application area is industrial robotics." The first modern programmable "robot" was patented by US inventor George Devol in 1954. Just one year later, this invention was used for particularly dangerous welding work in a General Motors production line, paving the way for the fully automated production lines that we know from many industrial sectors today.

German mechanical engineering is leading the world thanks to robotics

Together with computer science (including AI) robotics has developed into one of the leading disciplines of the 21st century. Industrial robots have become an integral part of production. The integration of various approaches from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science is a key issue, especially for companies in the German mechanical engineering sector - advancing automation with highly developed robot systems. The number of worldwide installed industrial robots has more than tripled in the years from 2010 to 2019. The most recent figure was 381,000 units per year. The digital transformation of traditional industrial sectors is still continuing.

Every robot application requires a reliable machine rack

"Machine racks, ensuring safe and trouble-free robotic applications are of great importance for all relevant applications," explains industry expert Volker Ott. The mostly sensitive industrial robots are exposed to high torques and therefore require protection by particularly stable robot cells. Such machine racks are used today in almost all technology sectors. In the age of Industry 4.0, increased wiring of the cells as well as highest demands on the functionality of the frame play a central role. häwa has picked up these ideas and developed a new concept in which not only the load-bearing function for a stable machine rack is provided, but above all, the focus is on the sophisticated cable routing. Combined with the goal to reduce assembly times by up to a third, this results in high-performance racks.

X-frame: Optimum performance with an excellent price/performance ratio

Volker Ott: "The decision for a machine rack is dependent on several factors. Simple racks are favorable in price, but are not comparable with first-class products with regard to functionality and stability. The same applies to racks made of aluminum profiles. Structures with functional struts provide a significantly higher quality - exactly this characterizes the X-frame racks from häwa. Our racks provide optimum performance at an excellent price/performance ratio. Cable-routing struts, control cabinets as a component of the machine rack, as well as customized special machine racks based on a standardized modular construction system and pre-constructed struts can be described today as 'state-of-the-art'. One reason for the excellent market success of the X-frame machine racks.