Plane Painting Robots are an example of future manufacturing

Industrial robots have taken over manufacturing in many industries. They’re found in warehouses, automotive plants, food processing, and anywhere repetitive fabrication can be performed better or faster by robotics. But some manufacturing has eluded automation due to some unique requirements. Building planes is a good example. By Boeing’s own admission, it’s still a 95% manual operation.

But the winds of change are in the air

While components and sections of large commercial airliners are likely fabricated by industrial robots, when it came time to assemble the plane and paint the planes, humans handled it. But to remain competitive, Boeing is investing in automating as many processes as possible.

Painting a plane

In the past, a team of 30-40 workers would toil for 4-5 hours to complete only the first coat of paint. But recently, Boeing introduced a new system of robot painters. The paint is now completed in 24 minutes and the quality is consistent. The painting robots can even apply two separate coats (and types) of paint at the same time.

How does this connect to Repco?

As previously written, in “Industrial Robots Do and Will Need Service and Replacement Electrical Parts” and “Robots Swarm Warehouses” it’s inevitable that robots will increasingly be used in manufacturing - no matter how unique the requirements. And Repco is ready to supply distributors, service companies and manufacturers with all the replacement electrical contacts they need to keep their robot workers maintained and working.

Repco's, Marlton, NJ warehouse stocks 1000s of contacts for 100s of current and obsolete OEM series. So whether your robot paints, lifts, bends, or stamps if you need replacement electrical contact kits, Repco is ready to send replacement control parts to your robot.