New Market/New Products: An Electrical Distributor Selling Robotic Arms!!
May 26, 2017
By Paul Eitmant
I came across this article this week and I just starting smiling seeing an electrical distributor moving into new product in an expanding market place.
This is not for every distributor, due to the fact that the machine tool and automotive market is the primary market in the Detroit to Toronto corridor. At the time, this distributor did invest the time, money and effort to enter the market with a new product to their line card.
Listed below is the press release I cam across this week.
On April 17, 2017, McNaughton-McKay signed an agreement with Universal Robots (UR) to distribute their Collaborative Robots (cobots) in the Georgia, Michigan and Ohio regions. Cobots are a new class of robotics that makes robot technology available at every level of manufacturing. They can automate virtually anything and work side by side with their human counterparts without the need for safety caging after risk assessment. Because of their flexibility and affordability, cobots reduce previous obstacles associated with the use of traditional robots, making it easier for firms of any size to deploy automation.
Douglas Peterson, General Manager of Universal Robots’ Americas Division, is excited to include McNaughton-McKay Electric Company in the UR distributor network: “We love McNaughton-McKay’s industrial market reach; their automation solution capabilities will greatly enhance our market coverage in key areas of the Great Lakes and Southeast regions,” says Peterson, adding that McNaughton-McKay is also one of Rockwell Automation¹s premier channel partners. “We can leverage great synergies here as this gives us coverage across all Rockwell Automation users and alignment to Rockwell¹s network of System Integrators as well.”
Collaborative Robots have an internal force-sensing capacity affording them the capability to stop automatically when obstacles are encountered. This provides a safety feature allowing humans to safely work in the same space. They are lightweight, flexible and can be easily moved and programmed for a variety of jobs. Rick Dahlstrom, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing welcomes this product line addition stating: “We began exploring potential relationships with a collaborative robot supplier in the fall of 2016. Our decision to align with Universal Robots was based on their ease of implementation, strong commitment to distribution as their market access strategy, and their strong global market share. We are very optimistic about our mutual success and in providing our industrial customer base with additional productivity enhancing solutions.”
This just demonstrates if you have a new product that it not normally seen on your line card and you make the effort to invest the time, money and effort it could open new opportunities for increase sale and profit for your company.
