Most of us have encountered joining solutions, even if it was just to put together flat-pack furniture. We tend to take this technology for granted because it is barely noticed in our daily lives. However, for Robert Karlsson and David Lindblom in the Atlas Copco Group, the subject is very much top of mind.
As Business Manager for Platform Software (Robert) and Business Manager for the Integrated Assembly Ecosystem (David), the concept of joining things together plays a huge role in their work.
“The screw or the bolted joint is one of the pivotal innovations in industry,” says Robert. “I work closely with customers in the motor vehicle sector, and if you were unable to put things together or take them apart and do maintenance on them, we would probably need a very different way of transporting ourselves.”
David, whose work covers the general industry sector, adds: “It looks simple, but there’s an amazing amount of complexity when you start getting into the details.”
Serving a huge variety of needs
Joining technology in an industrial setting is quite different from fastening things together at home. Industrial customers have many different needs, depending on the application.
“For example, customers who produce smartphones are tightening bolts that are super small,” says David. “Also, tightening in plastic produces a very different behavior from steel. The bolts are so small, and the tightening happens so fast that if the operator moves their hand even slightly it could have a big impact.”
At the other end of the size spectrum, you find possibly the largest bolts imaginable – the ones for wind turbines. The machines used are so heavy, you even need a winch to lift them up to the bolt.
Mechanical joining technology is essential in all types of assembly, from wind turbines and motor vehicles to mobile phones.
By making the tools data-driven, the assembly process becomes safer, smarter and more efficient. The newly launched smart XB cordless nutrunner range from Atlas Copco includes the XCB clutch tool made for standard applications, and the XTB tool with a built-in transducer that ensures maximum precision in both standard and quality critical applications.
Experts in the field
With more than a century of experience in manufacturing tools for assembly operations, Atlas Copco Group plays a leading role in joining, tightening and adhesive solutions. In more recent times the offer has expanded to include tightening strategies and joint optimization processes.
Robert and David agree that new trends and developments in this sphere usually happen first in the motor vehicle industry. These trends then tend to be adapted later by other industries, some more gradually than others.
“We have been and remain a true partner as the industry searches for new efficiency improvements, such as further automation, the use of collaborative robots, as well as bolting, joining, adhesives and vision systems for the batteries used in electric vehicles and powertrains," says Robert.
Digitalization and smart factories are high on the industry agenda. From a tool perspective, this refers to providing intelligent tools with modern, easy-to-use and secure ways to connect to the factory, and to provide insights from the data they generate.
“For every tightening, we generate thousands of datapoints, and with our software we visualize and provide advice on how the process can be improved, utilizing and keeping up with AI developments. So the screw, an old mechanical invention, is today highly connected to the latest AI trends,” says Robert.
Aerospace is one of the industries that stand out in general industry for its new advances. Productivity, quality and sustainability challenges make the sector open to new technologies.
“Aerospace is coming to us in terms of how it can utilize specific tightening strategies: how can it use the same tool for multiple operations instead of just one, like they've done in the past,” David explains.
Aerospace is one of the industries that stand out in general industry for its new advances. Productivity, quality and sustainability challenges make the sector open to new technologies.
“Aerospace is coming to us in terms of how it can utilize specific tightening strategies: how can it use the same tool for multiple operations instead of just one, like they've done in the past,” David explains.
Looking ahead
Both Robert and David think screw joints are here to stay, especially because they also enable disassembly for repairs.
“Being able to disassemble is a huge benefit of screw joints, which not many other technologies actually provide today,” says Robert. “So, this technology won’t disappear. It’s been around for hundreds of years and I think it's going to be around for the next 500 years, too.”
Robert and David believe that sustainability and automation will play an even greater role, but they are sure that humans still have a very important role to play.
