From December 14 to 16, the 2022 High-tech Robot Annual Conference and Golden Globe Award Ceremony with the theme of "Great Changes in the World, a New Era for China" were held in Shenzhen. Mr. Zhou Guangxing, deputy general manager of STEP and general manager of Robot Business Division, was invited to deliver a keynote speech entitled "High Quality makes a new Height" in the new energy special session named by STEP. He introduced the development of domestic robots led by STEP with R&D innovation from multiple dimensions such as core competitiveness construction, product series construction and industrial application expansion. At the same time, STEP won the "Leading Company of the Year 2022" award in the industrial robot industry.
Independent research and development driven, quality manufacturing leading
As a "specialized, special and new" enterprise, STEP focuses on the robot track, and realizes the layout of the whole industrial chain of core components, ontology and solutions in China earlier through R&D drive.
In the context of the continuous pursuit of the overall performance improvement of robots by the whole industry, STEP adheres to the breakthrough direction of high-order dynamics algorithm and builds a solid moat of long-term product leadership and customer recognition: Through trajectory planning, vibration suppression and path feedforward technologies, the speed of the robot is increased by 10%-30%, the acceleration and deceleration are smoother, and the life of the reducer, motor and other components is longer.
In the manufacturing of robot products, STEP adheres to its own concept of continuous innovation, pursuit of excellence and leading the industry. STEP is an international leading robot super factory, with an annual production and delivery capacity of ten thousand units. At the same time, more than 20 type tests run through the whole production cycle of products to ensure that all performance indicators of products are "run out" of the laboratory. For example, for the handling of lithium battery cells, the on-load anti-collision flexibility test can avoid the wear and damage caused by the possible collision and extrusion between the cell and peripheral equipment.
The continuous creation of high-quality products has also enabled STEP robots to play a central role in the industrial chain. This year, STEP led the first round of the chain, and cooperated with 12 key enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the robot industry chain in three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta to jointly build "Made in the Yangtze River Delta" robots. Currently, the first batch of robots have been offline, which will promote the expansion of the application of domestic robots in digital and intelligent transformation, and improve the resilience and safety level of the industrial chain and supply chain.
Product innovation enables, in-depth scene to create value
STEP adheres to innovation-driven value, and has successively launched a number of new robot products in 2022 to meet diversified application scenarios.
Comprehensively updated and upgraded its SCARA product family, 20 new models with arm length covering 350mm-1200mm, maximum load 20kg, protection grade IP65, new side installation mode, more flexible installation. These new models further enrich the whole series of STEPSCARA product matrix, and provide more efficient and cost-effective robot solutions for the whole scene and whole process of lithium battery intelligent manufacturing.
Welding robot is also a key product line to be improved by STEP. SA6/2000H, which will be launched soon, is equipped with a new high-order dynamic algorithm. The repetition accuracy is less than ±0.05mm, and the beat is increased by 20%. The welding function package is upgraded to improve the arcing efficiency of flight. This model is developed to consider the application needs of auto parts industry, and the developed prototype has been delivered to a number of auto parts factories for test use.
Up to now, there are more than 10 STEP robot product series, with load coverage of 3kg-600kg and more than 60 models, forming a rich product matrix. At the same time, we will vigorously develop customized software function packages and reduce programming difficulty, opening a broad space for welding, palletizing, loading and unloading, sorting, testing, assembly and other scenarios.
Focus on segmented industries and accurately serve customers
STEP follows the strategy of "robot machine + process" to create high-precision, high-reliability, high-efficiency, high-intelligence and high-intensive robot solutions for target industries, bringing value to customers and industries.
3C electron
STEP's subsidiary, Zhongweixing SCARA, is deeply engaged in 3C electronics, and works with Foxconn and other customers to serve global manufacturing. At present, STEP is focusing on the potential of 3C stock market, with innovative robot solutions to meet the new needs of customer scenarios and process changes.
Lithium battery
STEP combines robot technology with lithium battery production technology to greatly improve the production efficiency and product quality of lithium battery pole wafer production, cell synthesis, chemical component capacity, module &PACK line process, and drive lithium battery manufacturers to upgrade and transform technology. At present, STEP's full range of multi-joint robots and SCARA products, full-scene lithium battery solutions can be applied to sorting, gluing, film tearing, handling, inspection and other processes.
Recently, STEP has reached a cooperation with a well-known domestic lithium battery manufacturer and signed an order for more than 500 50kg heavy-load SCARA, which marks another solid STEP in STEP's market expansion in the lithium battery industry.
Tires
Together with our partner Shanghai Gusde, we quickly respond to the new demand of rubber tire industry for handling, loading and unloading, laser engraving and other applications, and provide a complete set of intelligent manufacturing solutions from robots to standard equipment, from application software to customized function development. Currently, we serve tire manufacturers including Zhongse Rubber, Linglong Tire, and Sai-lun tire.
Application of welding
STEP has always insisted that "the decisive opportunity for domestic brands lies in market segments", and the welding field has been deeply engaged in power tower, construction steel structure, all-terrain vehicle, construction machinery and other industries. Taking the power tower as an example, STEP innovatively uses parametric programming and laser guided welding technology to build the STEP tower foot welding intelligent robot workstation.
In the future, STEP is willing to work with channel providers and system integrators to build a robot and intelligent manufacturing ecosystem. Facing market segments, STEP will jointly build the differentiated advantages of Chinese robot brands with high-quality products, comprehensive and in-depth technology and timely and thoughtful service, and win more market development space.