The company’s new offering combines fastener installation, automatic feeding, application-specific tooling, and robotic part handling in a coordinated, turnkey system.
SAN CARLOS, Calif.—Manufacturers looking to automate fastener installation often need more than an insertion machine. Parts must also be loaded, positioned, moved between fastener locations, and unloaded after the cycle is complete.
PENCOM’s latest expansion of its Fastener Insertion Technologies™ product line addresses that broader production workflow by bringing collaborative robotics directly into the FIT automation platform, according to a company release.
PENCOM, a global provider of engineered fastening and assembly technologies, is now offering American-made, AI-native, collaborative robots from Standard Bots as integrated accessories for FIT machines. By combining Standard Bots cobots with PENCOM’s proven fastener installation equipment, the company said, it can deliver “complete automation cells designed around each customer’s components, fasteners, production requirements, and facility layout.”
“In an integrated FIT automation cell, a cobot can load components, position workpieces for fastener installation, initiate machine cycles, reposition parts for multiple insertions, and unload completed assemblies,” the release stated. “Automating these repetitive material-handling operations can help manufacturers increase throughput, improve process consistency, reduce manual handling, and make more productive use of their available workforce.”
The offering is also said to strengthen PENCOM’s position as a complete fastening solutions provider. Rather than sourcing fasteners, insertion equipment, feeding systems, tooling, robotics, and integration support from multiple vendors, manufacturers can work with one experienced engineering partner to develop a coordinated installation process.
“Adding Standard Bots cobots to our FIT product line is an important step in PENCOM’s continued expansion from a fastener supplier into a complete fastening solutions provider,” said Bill Gardiner, founder and CEO of PENCOM, in a statement. “We can now help customers select the right fastener, installation machine, feeding system, tooling, and robotic automation as part of one coordinated solution.”
PENCOM offers Standard Bots’ Spark, Core, and Thor cobots, providing customers with a range of payload capacities, reaches, and footprints for applications extending from small precision components to large sheet-metal assemblies.
Spark is a compact tabletop cobot with a payload capacity of 7 kilograms, or 15.4 pounds, and a reach of 900 millimeters, or 35.4 inches. Its small footprint and repeatability of ±0.025 millimeters, or ±0.001 inch, make it well suited for smaller components, light manufacturing, precision assembly, inspection, and workbench-level automation.
Core provides a balance of reach, payload, and versatility for a wide variety of manufacturing applications. With an 18-kilogram, or 39.7-pound, payload capacity, a 1.3-meter, or 51.2-inch, reach, and repeatability of ±0.025 millimeters, Core can support part handling and positioning for many common FIT fastener installation applications, PENCOM said in the release.
Thor is designed for processes requiring greater lifting capacity and an extended working envelope. Its 30-kilogram, or 66.1-pound, payload capacity and 2-meter, or 78.7-inch, reach make it suitable for handling larger panels, heavier components, oversized fixtures, and applications requiring access to multiple machines or workstations. Thor is also said to provide repeatability of ±0.025 millimeters.
“Standard Bots cobots feature intuitive, no-code programming and are designed to integrate with manufacturing equipment and accessories such as grippers, conveyors, machine controls, linear actuators, and vision systems,” the release stated. “Their flexibility makes them particularly useful in high-mix production environments where manufacturers may need to reconfigure an automation cell for different parts or assembly processes.”
Spark, Core and Thor can be paired with any FIT machine equipped with PENCOM’s Modular Auto-feed System, including models such as the SE 22 2B, TTF 22 2B, and STF 22 4B.
Depending on the application, a turnkey PENCOM system may incorporate a FIT fastener installation machine, a Standard Bots Spark, Core or Thor cobot, modular automatic fastener feeding, and application-specific upper and lower installation tooling. The cell may also include robotic grippers or other end-of-arm tooling, part-handling fixtures, workholding systems, and communication between the cobot and FIT machine, according to PENCOM.
Additional components can include part-present sensors, process-monitoring equipment, guarding, safety scanners, conveyors, and other devices required to support efficient operation. PENCOM can also provide system programming, installation, training, and ongoing support, giving manufacturers a comprehensive path from initial application review through production deployment, the company said.
Each system is configured according to the customer’s components, production volumes, fastener requirements, available floor space, and safety needs. The final system layout and operating mode are determined through an application-specific risk assessment.
“This integrated approach gives manufacturers a single resource for developing automated installation processes for self-clinching nuts, studs, standoffs, and other press-in hardware,” the release said. “PENCOM’s engineering team can evaluate an existing production process and recommend the appropriate FIT machine, Standard Bots cobot, tooling, feeding equipment, and supporting automation.
The new offering is reported to be particularly valuable for applications involving large or difficult-to-handle components, repeated fastener locations, high production volumes, and processes in which consistency and traceability are critical. Standard Bots cobots can also be reprogrammed or redeployed as production requirements change, allowing manufacturers to adapt their automation investments to future products and programs.
“With FIT equipment, automatic feeding, and robotic part handling working together, customers can automate much more than the insertion stroke,” Gardiner added. “PENCOM can provide a coordinated system that supports the fastener and the workpiece throughout the installation process.”
For manufacturers seeking a practical route to greater productivity, FIT automation brings together PENCOM’s fastening expertise, installation technology, application engineering, and customer support with flexible collaborative robotics. The result is a scalable production system designed not only to install the fastener, but also to improve the complete part-handling and installation process.
Standard Bots cobots are now available through PENCOM for new FIT equipment installations and may also be considered for compatible existing FIT applications.