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Automation technology has rarely experienced such a fundamental transformation before than at present—massively influenced by increasing digitization of all areas of value creation. It begins with the ordering of goods, which increasingly takes place online. These developments bring new challenges for the shipment of goods and especially for the handling technology used fulfill these needs. Gripping systems are taking on a key position as the interface to the product: If they do not function reliably, even the most sophisticated automation processes in the warehouse may stall. The driving factor for increasingly modern automation systems is not only new technological possibilities—it’s primarily driven by the customers: They demand individualized products that should be available in the desired amount, at the right place and as quickly as possible. Companies are adapting by increasingly networking their factories, designing intelligently, gearing toward efficiency and organizing as flexibly as possible within the framework of Industry 4.0. In the case of warehouses, the setup of a warehouse and the connected processes used to be predictable to a large extent, but nowadays companies must prepare themselves for changing conditions. As the goods structure changes constantly, orders frequently do not resemble each other at all. Incidentally, this applies to business-to-business transactions as much as it does to business-to-consumer transactions. The leader in the goods groups was the clothing sector, followed by electronic items/telecommunications and books/e-books. Online dealers such as Amazon are also required to organize their warehouses as flexibly as possible to reach the highest possible degree of delivery flexibility and accuracy. The vision: an autonomous, self-thinking and self-acting warehouse. But what does this vision mean for automation and gripping technology in particular? “The demand for gripping technology is increasing enormously,” said Walter Dunkmann, head of Business Unit Vacuum Automation at J. Schmalz GmbH. The vacuum specialist […]