Are you ready for the future yet?

Fast forward. Under that motto, FANUC proudly presented its new building to the general public for a week. More than 400 spectators signed in. A moment to look back on 25 years of FANUC Benelux, but above all to look forward to what the future will bring. No better place for that than the new Inspiration Centre. Visitors there got their sights perfectly set on what robotization and cobotization could look like in their own production environment. Because the possibilities for smart, efficient production are virtually endless at FANUC. 

A stone's throw from the familiar location in Mechelen, FANUC's new building appeared last year. An investment that was intended to give the company the breathing space it needed to continue its growth, while adding a new dimension. 

"We are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution. With the integration of sensorics, vision techniques, artificial intelligence and a hefty dose of computing power, robots have gained more capacity, functionalities and application areas," said Paul Ribus, managing director of FANUC Benelux. "Here in our Inspiration Centre, we can show customers what added value the FANUC portfolio can realize for them. After all, it is only in the application that the added value of robots really becomes concrete. That it becomes clear how customers can save costs, increase capacity or give a quality injection to their production. We can bring to life what is possible."

Inspiration galore

A year later, it's time for the official ribbon-cutting. Anyone strolling past the various exhibits can't help but understand that the possibilities are virtually endless at FANUC. An LR Mate 200iD/7L with an integrated FANUC 2D vision solution, for example, shows how easy it has become for a robot not only to move objects, but to subject them to thorough quality control at the same time. A little further down, an M-710iC/50 is at work with the FANUC Force Sensor. Grinding, polishing, assembling...: it can do it all by easily (and autonomously) changing tools. In the center of the room, a SCARA robot - which, by the way, has proved a particularly popular addition to the range - discharges its duty. A pick-and-place application on color that takes products off a circular conveyor, powered by a motion solution from FANUC. And at the very front, the cobot family immediately catches the eye. Stand-alone or get to work with FANUC's metalworking machines. Stationary or mobile. 

"Discovering what will work best."

Marketing coordinator Annelies Vander Hulst: "Our strength lies not only in the breadth of our portfolio, which allows us to deliver the robot with the most suitable specifications for each application. But also in the openness of our systems, software and accessories to integrate all kinds of solutions to make it a real application. From vision systems, over motion control to different grippers. In our Inspiration Centre, visitors can really discover what will work best for them." 

But FANUC is, of course, more than just a robot specialist. Metalworkers are only too happy to call on the RoboCut (wire EDM), RoboDrill (vertical CNC milling, drilling and tapping) or RoboShot (injection molding). They too have been given a place in the Inspiration Center, combined with various automation solutions. The products made on them show what true precision now looks like. A little further on all the explanations about the Industrial IoT solutions FANUC has in house and the CNC & Motion range. "Often customers do not realize exactly how wide and deep the portfolio reaches. That we can bring everything together in the Inspiration Centre opens a lot of eyes," adds Vander Hulst. 

Service highly valued

Those who continued to follow the arrows past the Inspiration Centre during the open house event, arrived successively at the FANUC Academy and the field labs for CNC& Robomachines and Robot & Cobot. Vander Hulst: "We want to be an open house for our customers, where interaction is key. Customers can find inspiration here, but we also consider service of paramount importance. That starts with extensive testing of what is possible with their products and our technology. But that continues with training to become more proficient, both for integrators and end customers. And, of course, we provide maintenance and repairs. In our warehouse, we keep everything in stock that is needed to get our customers back to work quickly." There, too, by the way, robotization made its appearance on the occasion of this event. An AMR with FANUC robot brings the necessary spare parts right to the entrance. Inspiration can be anywhere.