Hurco Introduces Practical Job Shop Automation for High-Mix Manufacturing

Hurco has developed a streamlined automation package for high-mix manufacturing by partnering with ProCobots to make job shop automation practical, which means the automation packages are flexible, easy to program, and easy to move to other Hurco machines without the need for customers to call an integrator each time they need to make a change.

Hurco is able to provide seamless integration of automation to Hurco CNC machines due to the development of the Automation Manager control feature. This intuitive control feature includes a setup wizard, job and queue progress bars, a graphical interface between the collaborative robot (cobot) and the CNC machine to facilitate an easy setup process for each job, the ability to run multiple jobs sequentially, and the ability to load and save job sets.

“Hurco was founded on the idea that technology should be easy to learn and easy to use and our products and technologies should help job shops be more productive and more profitable. We always strive to make sure technology empowers the operator and eliminates bottlenecks.” said Maggie Smith, Marketing Manager for Hurco Companies, Inc.

“We know the struggles shops have experienced with traditional automation, especially when it’s time for program changes or a machine transfer. That’s why we formed a partnership with ProCobots to create a completely integrated job shop automation system that is portable, reliable, easy to set up, easy to program, and affordable. The Automation Job Manager software feature on the Hurco control was created specifically for job shops and the machinists who find ways to bring order to the chaos of high-mix manufacturing,” said Smith.

According to Brian Knopp, president of ProCobots, “With compact footprints that don’t require intrusive safety fencing, the UR collaborative robots that we use work safely with machinists. With the Practical Job Shop Automation Packages Hurco has put together, machinists are able to focus on the high-value skills they contribute to each job and let the cobots do the monotonous, lower-skilled tasks, while also being empowered to own the automation process.”