Posted to News on 23rd Nov 2014, 00:00
Automation, robotics and traceability
Pryor Marking Technology exhibited at Innovate UK in early November with its very rst scale model of the Robotic Laser Vehicle Chassis Marking Cell. It is this innovation that won Pryor the prestigious Made in Sheffield Innovation award, has the company shortlisted for The Manufacturer of the Year Innovation and Design award and the Sheffield Business Awards, and has moved Pryor into a different market segment to its global competitors.
>Established in Sheffield in 1849 as a supplier of marking stamps to the cutlery trade, today Pryor Marking Technology is a leading traceability partner to some of the world's most prestigious manufacturers. Its customers are mainly in the aerospace and automotive industries, having deals with both aerospace and automotive giants, but also include steelmakers, power generation organisations and general manufacturers. This is partly due to the complete portfolio of tools for permanent part marking offered by Pryor, ranging from manually applied stamping and engraved products, through to dot-peen, electro-chemical etch, laser technology, and robotic turn-key installations.
>This diverse range of equipment has grown from developing bespoke solutions and provides accurate marking onto many various materials such as metals, alloys, plastics, carbides, ceramics, and glass. Since the start of 2013, robotic marking systems have become the company's expertise and in 2014 they were awarded the prestigious industry prize for innovation for their work with a major automotive player in developing a turkey robotic VIN cell robot.
>Over the last 25 years, with the advent of barcodes, Pryor Marking Technology has developed its own vision technology to ensure that data can be_reliably read from metal impressions, rather than simple black and white printing. With the globalisation of supply chains and more components being outsourced, traceability and data in manufacturing are becoming increasingly crucial. In order to ensure this data is available, industry standards are becoming ever more common and exceedingly specic.
>Reading marks from metal impressions is a highly specialised, technical development due to the countless variants in the refraction of light and colour from the mark that is being read, which is all also situation specic. Pryor Marking Technology has thus developed machine vision technology by working in close collaboration with its customers and the resulting innovations have moved Pryor into a different market sector to its global competitors. These innovations have been successfully deployed across both the automotive and the aerospace industries, providing full lifecycle data at the click of a mouse for highly critical components with the strictest quality standards.
