Maintenance-free Linear Slides: Low Profile Uni-Guide from PBC Linear PBC Linear 2026-09-24 | Maintenance-free Linear Slides: Low Profile Uni-Guide from PBC Linear
PBC Linear, 40 years of Solutions PBC Linear 2023-05-31 | During our first decade, the Simplicity product line quickly grew to include pillow blocks, linear slides, and optimized shafting. The Frelon liner technology expanded to create a new product line of linear guides, thus launching the Gliding Surface line of carriages and rails. Later to tackle different environmental demands, a v-guide wheel and rail system was developed resulting in the Integral-V line of linear guides. Customer application demands lead to the growth of ball and roller type bearings as well as screw-driven technologies. Building on the expertise of component manufacturing, the product line was expanded to include assembled mechatronic linear actuators which quickly grew in size range from small to large.My name is Jim, Plant Production Coordinator. I've been with PBC Linear thirty plus years. We're all family, and I like the growth and the challenge that we have.I'm Svjetlana, my title here I'm working on Mini-Rail, cutting them, that's assembly. I'm here almost seventeen years. I like my job, I love my job. I appreciate the teamwork here, more than anything else.My name is Tim, I'm a Director of Manufacturing Engineering here at PBC Linear. I've been here thirty years. What I like most about this company, for a mechanically minded person, there's a new challenge every day. So, the thirty years I've been here, it only seems like it’s been a couple years. Learn more at pbclinear.com
PBC Linear, 40 years of Product Innovations PBC Linear 2023-03-03 | 40 years ago, PBC Linear began with an innovative solution to some common problems encountered with the use of linear ball bearings. Resulting in the iconic red Simplicity plain bearing. Simplicity Plain Bearings utilizes a bonded Frelon liner that provides flexibility across diverse applications and extreme conditions including various temperature ranges, vibration, washdown, and particulates.During the last four decades, that successful plain bearing design has spurred innovation and a substantial portfolio of linear motion products and automation processes that help simplify customer applications while reducing costs.Employees say it best.My name is Ekrem, I'm the assistant plant manager and I'm here almost 20 years. and things I like here, a lot of different products, challenge every day, we are like family, like Jim says. I'm enjoying working here.Hi, my name is Maria, I'm working here for 19 years. I like, the people that help me to do best at my job, and I like working this little machine. And learning and all my leads and supervisors do for me.I'm Dave and I'm a CNC set up operator here. Been here for 25 years. I've seen our parts being use on 40-ton stone wheels and seen them shipped to Johnson Space Center and made all kinds of parts here and a lot of great things and together we solve so many issues that come out on the shop floor.Learn more at pbclinear.com
Results of the Cobot Feeder-ASRS (9 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-10-26 | Lights-Out production is set up a machine at the end of a shift and then go home for the day. The lights are off, but the machines are still running. When you utilize a cobot to run a job, you’re only going to see it run for maybe thirty minutes to an hour with a single tray.Now with our Cobot Feeder, you can truly see Lights-Out production, because you’re able to cycle through seventeen trays and achieve that overnight productivity.
Ball Screw Assemblies from PBC Linear PBC Linear 2022-10-04 | Kevin Bischel, Principal Engineer at PBC Linear, announces the new ball screw product line availability. Miniature ball screws available in sizes 6, 8, and 10 mm with various short and long leads. Ball screw nuts are available as either flanged or cylindrical.PBC Linear now offers a line of miniature rolled ball screws and nuts. They are designed for precision applications such as medical devices and electronic manufacturing equipment. Diameters available are 6, 8, and 10 mm with short and long leads available for each diameter. Choose between flanged and cylindrical ball nut styles for your specific mounting needs. If you need machined screw journals, we offer standard designs, but custom designs can also be provided. All PBC Linear ball screws and nuts are designed, manufactured, and stocked in our headquarters in Roscoe, Illinois USA. When this product was planned, our team was challenged to launch with a range of screw diameters having both short and long leads. This was to meet industry needs for both precision and high speed. Learn more at pbclinear.com
MCM and PBC Linear showcase the ASRS at IMTS 2022 PBC Linear 2022-09-19 | Jake Hall, the Manufacturing Millennial, interviews Beau Wileman of PBC Linear about the Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS) shown at IMTS 2022 in the MCM booth. Beau goes over the why and what of the ASRS and how it has impacted production at the PBC Linear shop.Hey everyone, its Jake Hall, the Manufacturing Millennial, and it is day 3 of IMTS. And I'm in the South Hall today with Beau from PBC Linear. We are actually in the MCM booth. And a lot of manufacturers are walking this floor today saying, ok, how can we be more productive with equipment we currently have on there, how can we be run more of a lights-out operation, we're having hard time finding skilled labor. We're having hard time people wanting to work late shifts. So how can we automation to make use more productive. But what I think we're kind of seeing is that today we have a collaborative robot, we have some machined tending, what are we looking at here? Yeah, thanks Jake. So this is our Automated Storage & Retrieval System. And what this is really is, is our solution for not being able to find those workers to tend machines and run those operations in our shop. So we started off by buying a bunch of collaborative robots for our shop, and we would implement them, but we still run into the problems of the tray being left empty after 30 minutes or an hour of the cobot doing its job. So, we really needed a solution where could keep parts in front of the cobot and let those jobs last for the whole day, or even the weekend. So, that's where we kind of developed this whole solution. Leveraging the technologies that's been around for a while of the storage and retrieval systems to go through and kind of pull parts. And over here, we have a high-density area, right? This isn't just a couple of parts, there's literally, thousands and thousands of parts here. Absolutely. So, very high-density applications, high capacity. It'll pull a tray out as soon as it finishes one up. Run those parts, run that application, and then put it back here. So, these carts detach as well so, if you’re doing an application where it goes one job to another, you can easily detach it, wheel this over to the next job, another ASRS system, hit go and let it run there. Awesome, so you can go from process to process, if you have machine that doing one process and then it has to go to the other one where maybe doing a deburring process and now making it over and do like a finishing line. I can just take my entire product rack and just move that and shift it that way. Absolutely, and depending on what those processes are, it keeps the parts in a very safe and contained tray. So if you’re working with silicon chips or your coming off an OD grinding application where those parts are in the oil and need to be protected. They stay stationary and protected in these trays. Awesome, cool. Well, there you go. Well, thanks so much. If you want to learn more about these Automated Storage Retrieval Systems for high density machine tending, swing by the PBC Linear (MCM) booth.
MCM Flexible Manufacturing System at PBC Linear 5 PBC Linear 2022-09-10 | Installation of a MCM Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) has begun at the PBC Linear location. Before final install, the system will be showcased at Chicago's IMTS 2022 show. See the features/benefits of the Clock EVO 1200 Machine Center here. The final stage of implementation of the MCM FMS system at PBC Linear is the addition of the Wash Station.See you at IMTS.
MCM Flexible Manufacturing System at PBC Linear 4 PBC Linear 2022-09-09 | Installation of a MCM Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) has begun at the PBC Linear location. Before final install, the system will be showcased at Chicago's IMTS 2022 show. See the features/benefits of the Clock EVO 1200 Machine Center here. The system set-up at PBC Linear features two standard vertical loading/unloading stations and the Roto-tilting loading/unloading station that affords better loading ergonomics and works great for automated cobot loading and unloading.See you at IMTS.
MCM Flexible Manufacturing System at PBC Linear 3 PBC Linear 2022-09-06 | Installation of a MCM Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) has begun at the PBC Linear location. Before final install, the system will be showcased at Chicago's IMTS 2022 show. See the features/benefits of the Clock EVO 1200 Machine Center here. The system features the MCM Mirror right- and left- hand machine configuration.Stay tuned for videos featuring other parts of the MCM system.
MCM Flexible Manufacturing System at PBC Linear 2 PBC Linear 2022-09-01 | Installation of a MCM Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) has begun at the PBC Linear location. Before final install, the system will be showcased at Chicago's IMTS 2022 show. See the features/benefits of the Clock EVO 1200 Machine Center here. The system features many items not available from other builders due to the entire system being designed and built with one sourced supplier. Items include MCM Mirror right- and left-hand machine configurations, super tool management system with tool sharing between machines, and a mass tool storage system. The world’s best supervision software and predictive maintenance allows for complete unmanned operation.Stay tuned for videos featuring other parts of the MCM system.
MCM Flexible Manufacturing System at PBC Linear 1 PBC Linear 2022-08-19 | Installation of a MCM Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) has begun at the PBC Linear location. Before final install, the system will be showcased at Chicago's IMTS 2022 show. See the features/benefits of the Clock EVO 1200 Machine Center here. The system features many items not available from other builders due to the entire system being designed and built with one sourced supplier. Items include MCM Mirror right- and left-hand machine configurations, super tool management system with tool sharing between machines, and a mass tool storage system. The world’s best supervision software and predictive maintenance allows for complete unmanned operation.Stay tuned for videos featuring other parts of the MCM system.
Results of the ASRS (8 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-07-28 | Lessons learned from the Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS). Derek Neises talks about two key lessons learned in developing the ASRS.Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can maximize your staff's output and help retain and add personnel. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.One of the issues we ran into with implementing these cobots is,we had five engineers programming the robots, and three different styles it was tough to go back and figuring out what that code was. What we did to fix that is we started enforcing standardized ways to code the cobots. By doing that, when I go and sit in front of a cobot now, I have a template. I just plug away that template. Repeat-ability is the number one killer for cobot operations. Through the generations of the ASRS, that was one of the key things we had to always go back to this. When I pull this tray out is this tray going to be in the same position as the next tray. And so, through these generations, we were refining that process and get this to be as repeatable as possible. So, we had to make sure this can truly run without any supervision. If it does run into a problem, that's why, you got to link the cobot E-Stop to the CNC machine because, if one of them faults out you want to make sure everything is stopping. A huge win as far as making sure these cobots are efficient. Stack up seventeen trays, have those trays automatically cycle in front of the cobot. We've seen half a day, 24 hours of work time of constantly keeping that machine feed.Learn more at pbclinear.com
Results of the ASRS (7 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-05-20 | Derek Neises talks about the ease of setting up the ASRS and some of the details involved in matching it to your CNC manufacturing process.Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can maximize your staff's output and help retain and add personnel. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.We wanted to make the ASRS as simple as possible to install. You literally drop it where you want it, and you can immediately start using the robot to program it. There's some electrical integration required to get the cobot communicating with the CNC machine you’re trying to run or automate. It requires some electrical engineering to wire up a CNC because you got to know which relay to pull from the CNC. You want to make sure the M-codes are working, so there is some integration engineering required for the initial install, but as far as using the ASRS and the Cobot, that's, anyone can learn that. For our shop, most of our machines are very similar, so we're able to figure out the best way to do that integration and by the end of it when we started installing these over and over, we're able to install the ASRS in front of our Mill in less than a day and that's like interfacing the robot with the Mill, getting the robot and the ASRS communicating. Like we were able to streamline that process very well. So, changing jobs, it's a matter of swapping out your finger on your cobot and then swapping out your trays. And once you start programming the robot and saving your programs you can just load up a previously saved program for that part and your going. So, less than five minutes. Now if your part changes and it's a brand-new part, you got to write a new code, position new points and reconfigure that into the machine. So, ten to thirty minutes, sometimes more if it's a complicated process. It varies heavily CNC to CNC. Once the machine is set up and running, the machinist, all he's doing is jumping station to station checking each of the parts on the robot. They love that because it really reduces the repetitive tasks and the amount of time that they have to spend on that job. It helps them, you know, maximize their efficiencies. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Benefits of the ASRS (6 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-05-03 | The Applied Cobotics team summarizes the effects the ASRS system has had on company culture and end profits.Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can maximize your staff's output and help retain and add personnel. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.We have about 80 CNC machines here at PBC and a lot of the time spent on those machines is actually pick and place. Picking up a part loading into it. So, material handling. Our cobots, the majority of the time what they are doing, is picking up parts from a tray and then loading them into the machine, when the machine finishes cutting the part, it'll take the part out, put it back in the tray, and grab the next one. So, the majority of cobots in our shop, that's the task that they are performing. Set up a machine at the end of shift and then go home for the day. Light turns off, but the machine is still running. So that's the biggest benefit of the ASRS is getting that lights-out production. When you utilize a cobot to run a job. You’re only going to see that robot run for maybe thirty minutes to an hour with a single tray. With the ASRS, you truly do see lights-out production, because your able to cycle through 17 trays and see that overnight production. That piece of capital is paid for, it's sitting on your floor. It only makes you money if the spindle is running. Every hour that, that ASRS loading parts into that machine the more it's going to help their company benefit. We've developed a calculator where you can put in your productivity, current costs, how many shifts your running. You throw in the investment of what a cobot and an ASRS system would cost you, and you can see just fast it pays for itself. The new technology is really changed mindsets, it's made the whole culture shift. People are happier with the work their doing. It's directly related to how we scale, how we grow. And with that your productivity is increasing. being able to grow by a third without needing to rely on head count. It's just unbelievable and it's really showed in our business. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Benefits of the ASRS (5 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-04-22 | Beau Wileman talks about the effect automation, ASRS system, and Augmented Reality have had on the shop floor personnel and improvement in attracting and hiring new staff.Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can maximize your staff's output and help retain and add personnel. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.When Covid hit, it became so hard to keep people in the shop and then hire new people as well. We had to do something to keep up with productivity. And that's where we started to get into the ASRS and the early development of that, to create a device that will keep parts feed to the cobot and keep our production running over night. Now all of a sudden, they're running three, four machines at once. Our training really evolved. So many of our facility workers were over the age of 45, that's a pretty average age, especially for tool makers. So, it became just essential for us to find a tool to capture it, preserve it, in its most unabridged and unaltered version. So we adopted Augmented Reality to solve that problem. And we'll take videos, pictures, interviews with these veteran machinists, we'll author in everything they walked us through and then upload all that to an Augmented Reality headset, so we can put on the headset and run the machine like that operator standing right here next to us. That takes the anxiety out of training. It saves time and, in a time, where it's hard to keep people, it's another one of those new technologies that makes people want to stay. And it's just that much more of an incentive for them. When we started with the automation, people were scared that these were going to replace their jobs, but for every engineering company, and really most companies, no one can afford to replace people with machines. You use these machines to increase the efficiencies of your people. It makes them so much more valuable and then you scale with that. It's really making it easier keep workers and hire them, and it really makes the work more rewarding for our workers. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Benefits of the ASRS (4 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-04-08 | Tim Lecrone and Beau Wileman talk about the effect automation and the ASRS system have had on the shop floor personnel and the impact it has had on attracting and hiring new staff.Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can maximize your staff's output and help retain and add personnel. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.The evolution of our workforce has changed so much in the last three years. We were just machine tenders, machine operators for specific machines. Trying to keep up with production schedules. We didn't have a lot of time for cross training. What I've noticed over the last three years bringing in augmented reality, the introduction of the cobots. Then the introduction of the ASRS. Were able to get our machines running, get our quality sign offs, then we're able to go into another area, while our machines are being automatically loaded with cobots, and cross train in other areas. With these new technologies of this automation, allowing people to do multiple jobs and take a lot more ownership and pride in what they are doing. And with that, they're collaborating a lot more. They're going, they're talking about what they're doing. They're learning together. We've been to job fairs and people walk by, they'll see a manufacturing company and they just immediately dismiss it, because of the stigma that manufacturing has had, where it’s very dirty, direct labor, all of that has changed. Now days there're starting to turn heads and see we have a 3D printer on the table, we have this little robot arm moving and all this stuff happening. Reminds them of all the technology they're seeing. This industry is not what I thought it was, it's changing. It's changing for the better. So, we're getting a lot more interest in the field and it's leading to a lot more hiring. You through a cobot and an ASRS in that area, now all of a sudden, they're running three, four machines at once. And they’re a manager of this automation. So, it's more rewarding. It's a lot safer, it's enjoyable. People are happier with the work they're doing. It's really making it easier to keep workers and hire them. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Why the ASRS (3 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-03-25 | Derek Neises spells out how trays for the ASRS were created and the versatility of those trays. The ASRS tray and rack system provided material handling efficiencies and extended cobot run time that dramatically effected production results.Beau Wileman recounts the staffing challenges PBC Linear had and how automation with cobots and the ASRS system offset those challenges. The results of automation at PBC Linear over that year of implementation resulted in a sales increase of 33% with only a 3% increase in staffing. Contact PBC Linear today to learn how the ASRS system can benefit your automation initiative and take your production capabilities to three shifts without adding additional staff. Call us at +1.800.962.8979 or visit us at pbclinear.com.We knew our head count was either locked in or dropping. So, we had to do something to keep up with productivity. So, the cobots helped, but they didn't help as much as we needed them too. The cobot has a very limited reach and what would happen is we would have a tray of parts that, depending on the cycle time of the machine, the cobot would run through those pretty quickly. So, unless there is an operator right there, we're running out of parts and there's just times when the cobot sits empty. The greatest benefits of the ASRS are not only that you can automatically cycle through seventeen trays of parts in front of the robot, those trays are fully capable of high mixture environments. So, when you have rectangular parts, circular parts, whatever shape can come up with, these trays can adapt to those. We ended up going to a thermoformer and when you make one mold, you can use that same mold for hundreds of trays. And that way we can just keep that mold on a shelf, and if we more we just pull off and make more. Even when you finish parts, they'll stack them up, and they'll move that whole crate of finished parts to the next job. Well, then they got to unstack them. One by one, and that's hours of workers bending over, picking up a weighted piece and over time that's just, it's not safe and it's not time effective. So, using our rack system, it just takes all that risk out of it. In 2021, because of this ASRS system and these cobots and all this deployment, PBC Linear was able to increase their sales by 33% while only increasing head count by 3%. I know so many shops right now are down from two shifts running just one. This opens the door for three shifts and once you get from one to three shifts, I mean your cobot might pay for itself in three months, but a cobot and an ASRS, those investments combined will pay for itself in a month and a half.Learn more at pbclinear.com
Why the ASRS (2 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-03-10 | Derek Neises tells us how the ASRS (Automated Storage & Retrieval System) filled the gap in the automation intuitive at PBC Linear. A system that maximizes your staff’s productivity and your bottom line. Thus, providing the true ability to run lights out production without additionally personal being brought on.With an industrial robot, you have to a cage around it, you have to putsafety scanners, light curtains, you got to do everything to make sure if someone enters the work area of this robot, it stops motion. With the cobots, they have built in safety sensors built in safety sensors it will stop the motion so your able to implement them much quicker than an industrial. If I put a tray of parts in front it and tell the cobot to load these it and tell the cobot to load these What happens when you’re out of parts? That tray is empty and needs swapped out. That's where we came up with the ASRS. That was the tool that was missing from the equation, we're able to stack up seventeen trays, have those trays automatically cycle in front of the cobot. We've seen half a day, twenty-four hours work time of constantly keeping that machine feed. Once the machine is set up and running, they'll actually come by and check parts frequently, especially on cutting a high tolerance part. We want to make sure we're checking those parts. Load it up and take off, and then come back the next morning and you got 400 parts finished. That's a good night! It really reduces the amount of time that they spend on that job. They don't want to babysit the machine for three days, they want to knock it out as quick as possible because it helps them maximize their efficiencies. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Why the ASRS (1 of 9) PBC Linear 2022-02-28 | In this first video of a series of videos, we will guide you through the Why, the Benefits, and the Results of the ASRS (Automated Storage & Retrieval System). A system designed to assist a collaborative robot to run larger lots of raw material than what can simply be set within the reach of a cobot. Thus providing the true ability to run lights out production without additionally personal being brought on.The area we really struggled with was all of our hand load CNC lathesand CNC mills. When we go home at night, those machines would just sit.And part of that problem was our lot sizes were really gauged for one shift work, but as a machinist shop operator or owner would know that, that job would never finish in that shift. So, a five-day work week would really take 8 or 9 days to complete. So, we really needed a solution to, one finish that job that we started that day on automatically, so every day were coming in, we're coming into a fresh set up, and two we could stay in step and pace with our production department's schedule. The owner had the idea to start bringing in cobots. Right about this time, the pandemic hit. So, it went from a let's start seeing what we can do with this, to a, ok this needs to happen. We need this to survive. Cobots pause until someone replaces the parts on that tray and that was the biggest issue we saw early on you know, we're just seeing cobots in the shop, they just sit there. Whatever the case may be, break time or the end of the shift. You know, when they go home, production stops. But now with the ASRS when they go home, they can load up the machine with the parts and come in the next day and it can still be running, if not it finished sometime before they got back. That was the biggest void that this machine is really filling is cobot downtime.Learn more at pbclinear.com
Benefits of Automation in Manufacturing - Applied Cobotics PBC Linear 2021-12-29 | Applied Cobotics is an automation solution available from PBC Linear. Configure the various parts of an automation system that fits your setup and reduce your costs today. Automation Manager, Beau Wileman, talks about the impact automation has had on manufacturing processes at PBC Linear.The biggest problem we're looking to solve is increasing our production. We're looking to be able to keep our production up when it is harder to find employees. The person in the past that sort of mastered that area would monitor the cobot and make sure what it’s doing is good and they can monitor multiple at once because now they are freed up to do that. And they can monitor the quality and make fine tune adjustments as needed. Biggest effect would be higher quality and consistency between all products. You no longer have the chance for any human error or judgment to be made on parts it’s really just whatever you tell the robot to do, it will do.We have a few different applications here ranging from mills, CNC laths, part trimming, and then even a few ID grinders. A wide spectrum of things and eventually pick & place and assembly.For most these cobots, especially some like these, return on investment is three to nine months right there averaging six. So the end goal would be to get your money back, or have these things pay for themselves in six months.Lean more at pbclinear.com
What is Applied Cobotics? PBC Linear 2021-12-15 | PBC Linear Automation Manager, Beau Wileman, tells of the work done on the Factory of the Future and details out the categories that make up the automation solutions available to manufacturers, Applied Cobotics._______________Hey, I'm Beau, and this is Applied Cobotics. The Applied Cobotics team at PBC Linear is working with new technologies to create the Factory of the Future. By utilizing new technologies, and hundreds of hours testing, Applied Cobotics is working to making manufacturing more enjoyable, safer, and more productive than ever before.Cobots are collaborative robots. They have sensors on them there a lot safer and a lot more user friendly than industrial robots. Grippers are the medium between the cobot and the work piece. Coming in various sizes and shapes such as two finger, three finger, pneumatic and electric. pneumatic and electric. Our Automated Material Lift is our way to keep parts in front of the cobot overnight and for longer operation. With the power of 3D printing, any custom parts or unique shapes are easy to tackle and quickly get a unique solution for the collaborative robots or ASRS (previously AML). Our dunnage trays are aluminum and plastic trays that we use to load the parts into the Automated Material Lift. It allows us to keep parts in front the collaborative robot for a lot longer period of time.There's a stigma right now that these things take a lot more money than the initial investment, but what me and my team have found is that these really can be easy. Any company could really run with these and really see a huge return on their investment.
Advanced Manufacturing Series - ASRS PBC Linear 2021-11-12 | Applied Cobotics is the factory of the future initiative at PBC Linear. As cobots have been implemented at specific machine stations, Derek Neises found out early on that the cobot was limited by how many parts could sit within reach.The engineering team went to work to design and build the Automated Storage and Retrieval System, ASRS (Previously: Automated Material Lift, AML). The ASRS cycles through multiple trays of material expanding the run time for the cobot at the machine center. This enables the end user to run their machine lights out for up to 24 hours of unattended operation.To learn more, visit appliedcobotics.com or pbclinear.comTranscript:Hi, I'm Derek Neises of PBC Linear. Our factory of the future initiative, Applied Cobotics ran into a problem very early on when we started implementing cobots into our facility. We found that one tray of parts in front cobot did not maximize the cobot's ability to run 24/7. Here at Applied Cobotics, we came up with a solution for this. We designed and built the machine behind me called the Automated Storage and Retrieval System, or ASRS. The ASRS is capable of cycling an entire cart worth of trays in front of the cobot. This allows the end user to full automate their machine for 24hrs of unattended operation. Traditional means of automation can take weeks or maybe even months of implementation, on top of the initial cost that go with that. Traditional means also only allows you to run a few different part’s dimensions through that machine. The ASRS offers the ability to run a high mixture of parts at competitive price compared to traditional means of automation. The ASRS comes prepackage with our collaborative robot already attached to it. The HANS collaborative robot. However, if your already devoted to particular cobot on the market, the ASRS is fully compatible with any cobot and you can easily incorporate it to the ASRS. As you can see here we have the ASRS hooked up to a HAAS mill, however the ASRS is fully compatible with any cobot application. Starting the ASRS up is extremely easy. I'll go ahead and select the floors I want it to pull out and click cycle start. Now with that setup I can go ahead and run my robot. So now, the robot is setup and waiting for the ASRS. As soon as the ASRS is in position, the robot goes ahead and pulls part off to load into the machine. Because we wanted to make the ASRS a high mix solution, we've made these trays customizable to any part the customer needs. With a tray capacity of 100 lb, we can fill any parts we need on this tray to run it with the cobot. When the cobots done cutting all the parts on the cart, it is extremely easy to remove it, to take it to the next job site. The ASRS is just as collaborative as the cobots, as we have installed a floor sensor to scan the surrounding area and pause the machine when anyone gets too close. In order to meet the high speeds and demands of manufacturing shops, we've decided to make the ASRS as easy to use as possible. With this plug and play solution we're able to incorporate this machine with the HAAS mill in less than a day. That required us to place the ASRS, program the robot, and incorporate that into the mill and we're to do all that in less than a day. Learn more at PBC Linear.com
Compact Series Linear Actuators PBC Linear 2021-09-01 | The Compact Series Linear Guide Systems from PBC Linear is designed to provide smooth, accurate, and repeatable linear motion in tight spaces. The Compact Series boasts a low profile—23.1 mm—standard system height making it an ideal solution for applications such as lab automation, medical, automated delivery systems, dispensing robotics, and electronic board manufacturing. In this video, you will learn more about the platform and how they are Mechatronics Enabled by a wide choice of motor options.pbclinear.com/Products/Actuators/CS-Compact-Series-Linear-Guide-SystemRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Mid-Sized Driven Linear Actuator Platform - SIMO PBC Linear 2021-09-01 | The SIMO Series Linear Motion Platform is a family of linear motion solutions designed with versatile options for multiple applications, flexible due to consistent geometry creating a platform for easy interchange, and affordable with the SIMO process producing machined precision at extrusion prices.pbclinear.com/Products/Actuators/UG-Series-Linear-Motion-PlatformRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Simplicity 60 Plus Shafting and Bearing Matched for Performance PBC Linear 2021-08-30 | Introducing Simplicity 60 Plus Shafting. In this video we will explain why matching the shaft (or inner raceway)to the bearing is critical in reaching maximum system performance.pbclinear.com/Products/Round-Shaft-Technology/Linear-ShaftingRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pages.pbclinear.com/shafting-sample.html
Hevi Rail Bearing Adjustment PBC Linear 2021-08-26 | Need adjustment assistance? Check out our updated how-to video on adjusting Hevi-Rail® combination bearings with Dave Walden, one of PBC Linear's Senior Application Engineers.Check out our blog for more information: pbclinear.com/Blog/2018/February/Hevi-Rail-The-Original-Heavy-Duty-Roller-BearingView Hevi-Rail Products here: pbclinear.com/Products/Cam-Roller-Technology/Hevi-Rail-Roller-BearingsRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
How to adjust an Integral-V carriage PBC Linear 2021-08-24 | Application engineer Kevin Bischel walks us through the adjustment procedure for an IVT carriage.Check Out Our Blog Here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2019/August/Integral-V-Technology-OverviewRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Integral-V Linear Guides Overview PBC Linear 2021-08-19 | Integral-V runs along a precision machined anodized aluminum rail with high-speed v-wheel cam rollers, eliminating mounting components, and cutting assembly time in half.IVT is ideal for contaminated environments and high speed/acceleration applications. SIMO® machined for precision qualified rail surfaces, to within 0.050 mm (0.002”) Hardened stainless steel races eliminate fasteners and reduce mounting components by 40%Handles loads up to 10,020 N (2,252 lb)Standard lengths up to 3,650 mmNO Bow, NO Twist, and NO Warp.
Simplicity Plain Bearing Overview PBC Linear 2021-08-16 | How Simplicity plain bearings work for linear motion, how they compare to ball-bearing products, and why they thrive in demanding environments such as extreme temperatures and high shock vibration.Learn More Here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2008/June/linear-plain-bearings-long-lifeBuilt for Harsh Environments: pbclinear.com/Blog/2018/April/Bearing-Solutions-for-Harsh-EnvironmentsRequest a Free Sample Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Summer Intern to Engineer at PBC Linear PBC Linear 2021-06-30 | Manufacturing engineer, Derek Neises, tells us what he spent his summer working on during his summer internship at PBC Linear. That internship lead to a full time position helping PBC Linear automate many manufacturing processes.I found out about PBC Linear through the job fair at NIU. I'm Derek Neises, I'm graduated from NIU. Yea, I'd say I hope to learn more physical, or hands on manufacturing process. Did you know about cobots? No, not at all. Yea, this is the first time I was introduced to them and working with them. I mean I've seen videos on them before but.What did you learn this summer? Learned a lot of stuff. Like a cobot of whatever brand was put in front of me, I think I could be able to program that. I was really intimidated about them beforehand. Like the idea of working with robots, I'm a mechanical engineer, I'm like, no, I rather not work with that, but you know working with them this past summer I've really become comfortable with them, and you know, they're not as bad as I thought they were. I learned a ton on the printers. I never used 3D printers before here, but now I can print really anything, and I can alter all the settings. Modeling a part on the computer and then making sure its strong enough in the real world, because on the computer looks big, but then you print it off this is like half an inch. Thank everyone who set it up. I think it was a great program and not only myself, but I think so many other interns learned so much.Learn more at pbclinear.com
Advanced Manufacturing Open House showcases Factory of the Future Program PBC Linear 2021-06-08 | PBC Linear, a Pacific Bearing Company and a global leader in linear motion solutions, showcased their Factory of the Future Program during their Advanced Manufacturing Open House on Wednesday, May 26th. Regional businesses showed up to see how PBC Linear is building a better manufacturing framework from the factory floor on up.This last year has helped bring to light the unmet demand for skilled workers within the manufacturing industry. This labor shortage is coinciding with a rise in output demands, creating a need for higher output with more competitive costs. In addition, shop floors are having to evolve on a dime, becoming more agile to fulfill custom orders and mitigate product fluctuations.
Advanced Manufacturing Series: Augmented Reality Training with Taqtile PBC Linear 2021-03-17 | Mechanical Engineer and Cobot Project Manager, Beau Wileman, explains how PBC Linear is utilizing augmented reality (AR) to standardize and increase engagement for their shop floor training. This is made possible with visually creative and engaging training software from Taqtile. Their programs use holograms projected through a headset, or goggles, into a user’s field of view while physically stationed at a machine. The PBC Linear team chose Taqtile after extensive market research, as well as for their focus within both government and private sectors. Additionally, Jackson Duncan, Manufacturing Engineer, provides more details of augmented reality training creation including templates and visually tagging specific tasks and functions with visual markers.Augmented Reality in Manufacturing?It is new in general but manufacturing latest industry to kind of hop on the augmented reality trend. What is perfect about if for manufacturing is there is so many opportunities to train people. Once you put the headset on and you start going through the trainings, it's very easy to follow the flow what's going on. Because of this, it makes the training so much more engaging to the person doing it. Instead of going to computer screen or listening to someone and possible their bad habits or their short cuts they take. You’re going through sort of like in a video game, where you see the instruction, you see a video, right next to the machine and then you can go right up to it and practice what you just learned. PBC takes decades of Tool Maker and Machinist knowledge and we break that down into very understandable and very consistent instructions which we then author into the augmented reality space. You shadow someone who has used that machine and is competent in operating it and changing things out and you learn from them, take your own notes, but you can take what you've learned to make a template. It has steps that you can read, but you can also put in pictures, you can put in videos in pictures, you can put in videos whoever learning that template would put on the headset and they would click the scan QR button, and once they scan that the template will pop up for them. The template itself is the same as thing as a document or manual, except you can put AR spatial markers in it. So unlike a manual, you can actually highlight in space where this button is that they need to press. AR has drastically dropped our time for training and increased our consistency with what workers have learned. We find that to be extremely valuable in today's day and age in manufacturing where there's a skill gap for just about every ten people leaving manufacturing, only one or two are entering the field. Those people typically are not the younger generation. So this engages the younger generation and makes them more excited about manufacturing. While also passing on that tribal knowledge and that skill set that the previous generations mastered.
Advanced Manufacturing Series: Cobots Advance Workforce Skills & Output PBC Linear 2020-10-15 | Beau Wileman and Tim Lecrone talk about cobots and how they are impacting productivity and quality.What's a cobot? Cobots are collaborative robots, so they've become really popular in industry recently and because of the ability for them to work side by side with humans. They are very similar to what we've seen in the automotive industry and food industry for the last couple of years, but they have sensors on them and capabilities to where if they were to run into you or hit you they would shut down till reset. So, there a lot safer and a lot more, user friendly than most other industrial robots.Reasons for a Cobot? A few different reasons. Ah, the first reason is to increase production. We would have a significant increase in the number of cycles we can run and the times in which we can run those cycles. And then the other reason would be to take those repetitive jobs that people could get hurt doing or doing the same thing over and over again and re-purpose those people. The labor force has a challenge on meeting the laborers to run our CNC equipment Colleges and high schools really haven't promoted the manufacturing sector. So that left manufacturing sector basically without a labor force. Many of the factory workers,skilled labor have retired and has left us with a void of, a generation gap of people that would come in and run our equipment. What are the benefits of cobots? A cobot is an excellent assistant that can help manufacturing by just taking the basic function and taking a part, loading it into the machine and taking the part out of the machine and putting it in inspection station. This way we can focus on quality of the part. The basic cobot cannot discern a good part from a bad part. So that is why we need the employee worker cobot relationship. Extra time and attention that a human can spend on the quality of the part and use discernment on this is how I can make the part better and give that feedback, that's the true benefit of the cobot. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Advanced Manufacturing Series: Galdabini Lead Screw Straightener, Advances in Precision and Output PBC Linear 2020-10-15 | Lyle Smith and Tim Lecrone talk about the Galdabini Lead Screw Straightener and how it has impacted lead screw production and quality.What is this? The Galdabini CNC straightener, straightens all of our lead screws. Galdabini had been in business for well over a hundred years. They've been making all kinds of different straighteners. Our in-house tolerances are three thousandth per foot on all of our straightening. And sometimes a customer requires a little bit tighter than that to a thousandth per foot. With the Galdabini it can achieve that effortlessly, with no problem. What is a lead screw? lead screw a threaded rod on which a mechanism travels and can be positioned precisely. Galdabini straightener, we brought in a screw product line that required several straightening processes. Straightening takes more time than any process of that product. There's six straightening steps and this required manual arbor press straightening by individuals, it's boring, tedious work and between each operation that step would need to be repeated. Discerning the difference between how much to bend a piece of steel to make it straight. So, we had generous tolerances of five thousandth per foot that we set as a standard for the straightening process. And it added a huge cost to our lead screw line. So, to take this cost out we had to make a significant investment to take the labor out of the equation. The Galdabini straightener with the new technology, the laser scanner, the CNC programming allowed that same diameter of screw to be straighten within one thousandth per foot. Now instead of taking hours to go through a lot of it, for a job and that. Setting it up and run a then depending on how it needed corrections, load it up. Couple few hours. Come back. Take, remove the parts, and load it up again. It frees up a lot of people and a lot of time, just being more efficient. What impact has it had? Oh, tremendous, tremendous impact. Our quality is on our straightness I'd probably have to say ten time better than what it was. It's a reliable device. Customer support has been excellent. The engineering in all of the tooling is well thought out and tested before it was shipped to us. If all machine tools could meet that standard, that manufacturing would be much different today. Learn more at pbclinear.com
Advanced Manufacturing Series: Hitachi Seiki FMS, Around the Clock Manufacturing PBC Linear 2020-10-09 | General Manager, Bob Gronewold of PBC Linear, tells us of the importance of the Hitachi FMS system to shop floor production.What is this? It’s a Hitachi FMS system, flexible machining system. Us that for all our high-volume product that can be anything from our standard core product to even our customer specific products. What impact has the Hitachi had? What’s nice with the FMS system isfact that with 72 tombstones and the four machines we can load up high volume jobs, set up the machines each, theirs four machines in a cell and each machine can handle I think 10 different programs at a time. So I can have as many as 40 jobs lined up. Guys can go through, load up those tombstones and literally walk away. And those machines then can then run 24/7 until those programs are completed. Was there a time it was critical to meeting a deadline? Often, often, and we used those on any high-volume order we get. We have crunch time happens and an emergency from a customer. It’s an idea machine to be able to put that product on. What impact has it had on quality? To be able to do a AQL on the parts is an easy process with that manufacturing, because you’re going to run 200 at a time on a tombstone, it’s the same program over and over again, same tooling, same set-ups, so it’s very repetitive. Every 300, 30 pieces are or so, your checking them, but our quality is excellent off those machines and very repetitive. What are your thoughts on the Hitachi? Oh, I love it. I mean it’s one of our key core product machining centers. Allows us to continue doing that 24/7 operation, so it’s a lights out production system.Learn more at pbcLinear.com
PBC Linear Cobot Internship Testimonial PBC Linear 2020-08-28 | PBC LInear R&D engineering intern, Joshua Garrett, talks about his summer internship working on Cobot automation on our manufacturing lines.Oh, hey, hows it going? My name is Joshua Garrett from the University of North Texas and I am an R&D engineer at PBC Linear. Basically what that means is that this whole summer I've been messing with these robots. And been a key part of automatizing the shop floor of this company. And since I'm a programmer, that means I've been helping a lot with the utility of these robots such as connecting raspberry pies so we can do a bunch of code on them. Giving them WiFi access. Hooking up different cameras and scanners for them. And it's been a really interesting experience. Since I'm a Computer Science major I never really thought I would be working in a manufacturing company with a bunch of engineers, but it turned out to be one of the best internships I could ask for. I felt like I've learned so many skills that other Computer Science majors definitely can never say that they could ever get, unless they also worked in manufacturing. Then they would get them. However, I feel like this was just an amazing first time internship especially being the only programmer. Because it meant a lot of the things that I did, were people asked me to do to do it and not really understanding how hard it was what they were asking me and since there was no one and since there was no one about coding really let me expand myself, expand what I can do and push myself to my limits. I'm really going to take that mindset with me to any job that I go to in the future.
MTB Series Linear Actuator Application Examples PBC Linear 2020-06-02 | PBC Linear application engineer, Jeff Maina, shares some of the industry applications of the MTB series linear actuators.
MTB Series Linear Actuator Accessories PBC Linear 2020-05-29 | PBC Linear application engineer, Jeff Maina, talks about the some of the key accessories available for the MTB Series linear actuators. Pre-engineered mounting brackets, connection nuts, sensors, and sensor brackets provide the tools for setting up your MTB Series linear actuator system.
MTB Series Linear Actuator Features PBC Linear 2020-05-26 | PBC Linear application engineer, Jeff Maina, talks about the features of MTB actuator that make it a strong linear platform. A profile rail with runner blocks provide guidance with low friction, noise and vibration. The actuator body consists of an anodized aluminum housing with a stainless steel strip which seals along magnetic strips to shield out contamination from entering the linear actuator. Precision extrusions for each aluminum actuator body ensure for side and bottom surfaces that are flat and perpendicular giving accurate installations.
MTB Series Linear Actuator Advantages PBC Linear 2020-05-22 | PBC Linear application engineer, Jeff Maina, talks about the advantages of using a MTB actuator for you linear motion system. A profile rail with runner blocks provide guidance with low friction, noise and vibration. The actuator body consists of an anodized aluminum housing with a stainless steel strip which seals along magnetic strips to shield out contamination from entering the linear actuator. Precision extrusions for each aluminum actuator body ensure for side and bottom surfaces that are flat and perpendicular giving accurate installations.
MTB Series Linear Actuator Overview PBC Linear 2020-05-08 | PBC Linear application engineer, Jeff Maina, talks about the three sizes of MTB Series belt driven linear actuators. MTB 42 mm wide body, MTB 55 mm wide body, and MTB 80 mm wide body make up the MTB Series. A profile rail with runner blocks provide guidance with low friction, noise and vibration. The actuator body consists of an anodized aluminum housing with a stainless steel strip which seals along magnetic strips to shield out contamination from entering the linear actuator. Precision extrusions for each aluminum actuator body ensure for side and bottom surfaces that are flat and perpendicular giving accurate installations.
Range of Mechatronic Solutions from PBC Linear PBC Linear 2020-04-30 | Whether the application calls for belt, ball or lead screw driven linear systems, PBC Linear can provide a complete mechatronic solution. Available in multiple types of bearing technology and profile sizes, we have a full selection of driven systems to match up with your application as well as compatible accessories for easy adaptability. Find out more about our complete mechatronic solutions in this video.Request a FREE SAMPLE at: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Requestor Request an Engineered sample at: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Engineered-Sampleor contact an Application Engineer at pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Ask-an-Engineer
Non Captive Lead Screw Actuators PBC Linear 2020-01-13 | We're expanding our line of lead screw motors actuators to include not only our external versions, but now to include the Non-Captive family as well. Different diameters, different leads that you can get for the screws and things that fill out the full range of the product. What makes the Non-Captive actuator unique, is that it allows the screw to pass completely through the motor. People will use this in places where they need shorter stroke applications. The screw ends are typically fixed, and then the motor will be what moves, so you'll mount your load here, your payload, your gripper, or whatever it is your moving. You'll mount to the motor and then that provides the motion. You'll notice also that there is a little bit of axial motion in the screw and you'll often see these with some sort of linear guidance attached to it that will stiffen the entire assembly and then increase your load capacity as well. The screws are rolled right here at PBC Linear we hold tolerances of three-thousandths of an inch per foot as far as the lead accuracy. That's three times better than the published specifications of leading competitors. In Addition to that, you'll notice this nut here has a band around it. A spring around there, most Non-Captives don't have any king of anti-backlash control Where here, with this band, you get continuous force closing the nut down onto the screw and you get anti-backlash capabilities that are 2 to 3 times better than competitive products. The result is a system that's going to give you the highest repeatability and highest accuracy in a Non-Captive actuator. If you would like to learn more about the Non-Captive or external actuators, check out our blog at: pbclinear.com/Blog/2019/November/Non-Captive-Linear-Actuators.Request a FREE SAMPLE Here: pages.pbclinear.com/leadscrew-sample.html
How to Adjust a Roller Pillow Block PBC Linear 2019-11-22 | PBC Linear provides a hands-on demonstration of how to adjust the eccentric bearing on a Roller Pillow Block system. The Roller Pillow Block provides key performance benefits such as high load capacities, high speeds, and design compatibility—providing size interchangeability with industry standard block. Check out our blog here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2009/September/Overview-of-the-Roller-Pillow-Block or view our Roller Pillow Blocks Here: pbclinear.com/Products/Round-Shaft-Technology/Roller-Pillow-BlocksRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Roller Bearing Pillow Block Features PBC Linear 2019-11-22 | The Roller Pillow Block, from PBC Linear, provides key performance benefits such as high load capacities, high speeds, and design compatibility—providing size interchangeability with industry-standard block. In contaminated environments, the roller bearings will push particulates out of the way or roll seamlessly over them. The large rollers in the Roller Pillow Block system are well suited for long travel applications, minimizing vibration and providing smooth and quiet travel over joined shafts. pbclinear.com/Products/Round-Shaft-Technology/Roller-Pillow-BlocksRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
PBC Linear introduces extension of Redi-Rail carriage options PBC Linear 2019-08-19 | PBC Linear has expanded the already popular Redi-Rail® line of linear guidance components. This means that all of our metric Redi-Rail sizes now have a 4-wheel and 5-wheel carriage option. These product extensions will offer our customers more benefits in terms of design flexibility, higher load ratings, and the potential for substantial cost-savings. View our blog here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2018/October/Redi-Rail-Linear-Guide-OverviewRegarding increased load capabilities, it is important to understand how the addition of rollers affects load capabilities, and which rollers support the load based on the relative position to the slider assembly. What this means for the customer is, while the load rating can increase significantly when adding rollers, in certain instances the values will not change when going from a 3-roller to 4-roller carriage due to the makeup of loaded and unloaded rollers.The added flexibility of multiple roller options can save money in designs where a single 4- or 5-roller slider can take the place of two 3-roller sliders. In some cases that savings can approach 25%. Another advantage is that the rail will likely be shorter in most designs due to the reduction in space taken by a single slider as opposed to two sliders.Request a FREE SAMPLE Here: pages.pbclinear.com/Redi-Rail-Sample.html
Redi-Rail Linear Guide Overview PBC Linear 2019-07-23 | Learn about the Redi-Rail linear guide product line from PBC Linear. Patented side adjustment for preload, integral seals to wipe away debris on raceways, sealed bearings, and steel raceways joined to a sturdy aluminum rail make the Redi-Rail guide both reliable and precise.View our Redi-Rail products here: pbclinear.com/Products/Cam-Roller-Technology/Redi-Rail-Linear-Guide or configure you solution at pbclinear.com/configure-quoteRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pages.pbclinear.com/Redi-Rail-Sample.html
Redi Rail Adjustment Advantage PBC Linear 2019-07-09 | Experiencing problems with pre-load adjustment? This new video from PBC Linear examines the steps in adjusting for pre-load in both standard linear guides and our Redi-Rail® linear guide product with patented side-adjusted pre-load. See the difference for yourself and eliminate fine-tuning steps with Redi-Rail.View our blog here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2018/October/Redi-Rail-Linear-Guide-OverviewRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pages.pbclinear.com/Redi-Rail-Sample.html
Uni-Guide Linear Slide Overview PBC Linear 2019-06-28 | See the latest technical data, application performance and complete look at the Uni-Guide linear slide product line by watching our latest video. Available in standard, low profile and driven assemblies, the Uni-Guide is a perfect solution to many motion control tasks. Check out our blog for more information: pbclinear.com/Blog/2019/July/Uni-Guide-Linear-Slide-OverviewRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
Hevi Rail Overview PBC Linear 2019-06-18 | The Hevi-Rail heavy duty bearing system provides smooth linear guidance in the toughest of industrial applications; such as lift units, robotic platforms and telescoping slides. Check out all the benefits of Hevi-Rail in our new video, and read our blog here: pbclinear.com/Blog/2018/February/Hevi-Rail-The-Original-Heavy-Duty-Roller-Bearingpbclinear.com/Products/Cam-Roller-Technology/Hevi-Rail-Roller-BearingsRequest a FREE SAMPLE Here: pbclinear.com/Contact-Us/Sample-Request
