Antonio Martinez, General ManagerConceptualised in 1998 by a group of local engineers under the name MAPRO, today the company has branched out in Mexico, Poland, China, USA (and currently India as well); to form a global team of 200 employees and consolidate as a global solutions provider for the automotive sector. With vital differentiators such as Lean Six Sigma methodology and continuous product and operative innovation to supply advanced technologies for solutions and services since the early stages of the product development, it is easy to see why Airtificial is a favourite in the business circles. "What we offer is not a single alternative; we strive to find the best solution or application based on simplicity and functionality," states Antonio Martinez, general manager of Airtificial.
The company partners with its clients to analyse the challenges and find the most appropriate solution for them. Airtificial implements a lean thinking perspective and delivers partnerships programs, complementary services such as timing and simulation methodologies for manufacturing cycle-time analysis, line balancing; presential and remote assistance applying latest technologies like VR/AR; problem-solving methods to find root causes of reduced OEE, and quality issues, among others.
Our success mantra for growth is to bet and invest in continuous innovation
The firm also provides a dedicated software AiTrace that allows customers to track the exact status of production, messaging, and artificial intelligence modules to anticipate the faults and avoid non-programmed stops.
The company always keeps its products and services aligned with the latest developments in the robotics industry, such as the communication between the robot and the environment where systems with external sensors (artificial vision cameras, and multiaxial cells) communicate variables of the process to the robot. The firm is driven by a mission to help the human being to integrate with the technologies that are being developed. That is why Airtificial has dedicated areas in its workflow with those latest technologies to test, practise, and learn new proposals and perform its partnership strategy with each customer. "This outstanding growth in robotics and the automation of industrial processes implies the need for cultural change towards collaborative processes and a different relationship between man-machine," adds Martinez.
Airtificial differentiates itself from the rest in the market by exceeding customer expectations and manufacturing the right equipment as a solution that its customers require. Being a knowledge hub between the customers and suppliers gives Airtificial the capacity to face challenging engineering projects with high value-added and robust solutions using cutting-edge technologies. In the case of the automobile space, an innovative and demanding market, Airtificial applies necessary manipulations, engages robots guided by vision systems, and equipped with torque and force sensors.
These robots perform very complex processes by detecting the process variables like force, torque, and angles of the environment to execute the function efficiently.
For instance, Airtificial robotised a complex manual process of inserting vanes in the cavities of a pump rotor during the automatic assembly of a hydraulic steering pump. Airtificial used a robot with force sensor to solve the application by detecting the force applied to the end in six degrees of freedom and supplying the robot application the necessary human-like sense of touch to solve the problem satisfactorily. With the force sensor, the robot was able to detect the force and torque in the different degrees of freedom, allowing for a constant push and inserting the vanes in the rotor slots.
This implementation was a huge success due to the complexity of the insertion process and the tight tolerances between the vane and the rotor slots. The automation of this previously manual process introduced a substantial improvement in the quality production ratios in the customer's OEE data as well as eliminated the human factor error present in the past. By introducing the automatic insertion systems, the cycle time was significantly reduced to thirty seconds from forty-five seconds achieved with the manual operation.
Airtificial is trusted and recognised worldwide by its customers, and the company has grown by 64 per cent in the last four years. In addition to the formal recognition by its clients for the work carried out, the firm has also received the "Innovation Award 2003" from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, Airtificial was included in CEPYME500 rankings and Forbes' Diamonds list for being a leader in business growth through its results and ability to generate value-added employment, innovation, and international projection.
The company has a comprehensive operational management system focused on the customer and market competitiveness, developing the technological differential elements and the organizational culture of excellence and execution. "Our success mantra for growth is to bet and invest in continuous innovation," concludes Martinez.
For instance, Airtificial robotised a complex manual process of inserting vanes in the cavities of a pump rotor during the automatic assembly of a hydraulic steering pump. Airtificial used a robot with force sensor to solve the application by detecting the force applied to the end in six degrees of freedom and supplying the robot application the necessary human-like sense of touch to solve the problem satisfactorily. With the force sensor, the robot was able to detect the force and torque in the different degrees of freedom, allowing for a constant push and inserting the vanes in the rotor slots.
This implementation was a huge success due to the complexity of the insertion process and the tight tolerances between the vane and the rotor slots. The automation of this previously manual process introduced a substantial improvement in the quality production ratios in the customer's OEE data as well as eliminated the human factor error present in the past. By introducing the automatic insertion systems, the cycle time was significantly reduced to thirty seconds from forty-five seconds achieved with the manual operation.
Airtificial is trusted and recognised worldwide by its customers, and the company has grown by 64 per cent in the last four years. In addition to the formal recognition by its clients for the work carried out, the firm has also received the "Innovation Award 2003" from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, Airtificial was included in CEPYME500 rankings and Forbes' Diamonds list for being a leader in business growth through its results and ability to generate value-added employment, innovation, and international projection.
The company has a comprehensive operational management system focused on the customer and market competitiveness, developing the technological differential elements and the organizational culture of excellence and execution. "Our success mantra for growth is to bet and invest in continuous innovation," concludes Martinez.
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