Approach to Sustainability

FANUC operates the businesses of FA, ROBOT, and ROBOMACHINE, as well as the IoT business that improves these three businesses. Since its foundation, we have developed a tough corporate structure by focusing on these businesses, without blindly seeking to expand the scale of its business. And we aim to remain a company trusted by stakeholders by working to provide essential value to not just customers but also to society through persistent technological innovation in all of our businesses and fulfilling our social responsibility through our business activities. Demand for factory automation is expected to continue to grow. FANUC will continue to aim to achieve SDGs by creating new value and working to resolve environmental issues such as climate change and other social issues including the need to improve work environment.

 

Menu for COntribution to SDGs

Two Perspectives on Sustainability

FANUC's two perspectives on sustainability are “energy saving and carbon neutrality" and “SDGs.”

Energy Saving & Carbon Neutrality

We are engaged in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce power consumption, and utilize green energy by switching from hydraulic to electric power.

SDGs

We will contribute to achieving 8 of the 17 goals, in particular, improving the working environment, increasing productivity, reducing waste, etc.

Initiatives in FA Business

In FA business, we provide CNCs, servo motors, and servo amplifiers which are used in machinery including machine tools and industrial machinery. Our brand new CNC model, Series 500i-A, αi-D series SERVO, and αi-D series SERVO AMPLIFIER contribute to customers’ reduction of total power consumption by realizing high machining performance, precision, and reliability while saving more energy through the application of the newest technologies.

Reduction of power consumption dependent on machining

We are working to reduce power consumption of CNC systems.

• Development of low power consumption CNC
• Motors optimally designed to conserve energy
• Motor loss reduction by high-speed current control
• Amplifier loss reduction through the application of low-loss power elements (loss reduction has been achieved continuously since the past and is currently up to 35% less than in 1995)
• Power supply regeneration returns deceleration energy to the power supply for effective use (35% reduction compared to the resistance regeneration method in our example)

Power consumption reduction dependent on processing time

• Control technology for cycle time reduction reduces operating time of auxiliary equipment, etc.
  • Drilling and tapping processes are sped up through the optimization of machining paths
  • Cycle time reduction through speed control that optimizes cutting load
  • Handling of the latest machining tools and technologies, such as turning through a reciprocating motion
  • Improved efficiency of peripheral device operation, etc., through faster sequence control

  High speed drilling and tapping

  

• Shortening cycle time by improving the motor’s accelerating performance
• AI thermal displacement compensation using machine learning corrects thermal displacement immediately after machine power-on. Reduces warm-up time and power consumption. (In the example below, warm-up time is reduced to 1/6.)

  Reduction of warm-up time

  

Power consumption reduction of the entire machine

• Displays supplied power and power recovered by power regeneration in real time on the power consumption monitor
• Provides an energy saving level selection function that allows selection of operation settings that prioritize machining time or power consumption, enabling confirmation of power consumption and machining time. Level can be set by confirming the power consumption amount and machining time on the CNC screen
• Visualizes operation status and power consumption through MT-LINKi and supports optimization of machine operation
• Reduces power consumption during trial machining by utilizing machining simulation to reduce trial machining

Initiatives in ROBOT Business

• We conduct product development that is environmentally conscious. In the development of the CRX, the weight was significantly reduced to 40 kg, compared to the 150 kg mass of the conventional 10 kg payload class machine. This has reduced power consumption to 100-300W.
  Moreover, we have developed the same payload class machine LR-10iA/10, whose weight was reduced to 46 kg and its power consumption to 140-400W.


CRX-10iA


LR-10iA/10

• In addition to weight reduction, we are working on various other initiatives. 　
  • Reduction and visualization of power consumption through energy-saving functions
  • Optimization of power consumption via an offline simulation software ROBOGUIDE
  • Reduction of CO₂ emissions during transportation through weight reduction
  • Peak power dispersion through nighttime operation of robots
  • Contribution to an increase in the ratio of renewable energy

Initiatives in ROBOMACHINE Business

ROBODRILL initiatives

• Improved productivity
  • High machining performance...Reduces cycle time with a unique fixed cycle that ensures smooth and lean operation.
  • High operating rate...ROBODRILL-LINKi collects and visualizes operating information, contributing to improved operating rate and work efficiency.
  • Ease of use...Utilization of dedicated G-code significantly reduces programming time
• Power consumption reduction
  • Power supply regeneration...Motor regenerative energy is returned to the power supply for reuse.
  • Energy-saving functions...Various energy-saving functions minimize power consumption during standby.
  • Power consumption monitor...Supports energy-saving activities by visualizing power consumption. Possible to centrally monitor it with ROBODRILL-LINKi.
• Waste reduction
  • Rechargeable battery unit・・・Reduces disposal of backup batteries, making the machine maintenance-free.
  • Longer spindle life...Environmental resistance has been improved by adding air purge to the rear side of the spindle.
  • Longer life of each spindle cover...Pantograph mechanism has been adopted and cushion rubber wiper reinforced to improve durability.

ROBOSHOT initiatives

• Improved productivity
  • High molding performance...Simultaneous operation reduces cycle time.
  • High operating rate...ROBOSHOT-LINKi2 can be used to analyze the operation rate and examine ways to improve it.
  • Ease of use... Outstanding operability achieved by a large screen display unit.
• Power consumption reduction
  • Power regeneration...Motor regenerative energy is returned to the power supply for reuse.
  • Heat insulation cover for the barrel...Suppresses heat dissipation from the heater and reduces power consumption.
  • Power consumption monitor...Supports energy-saving activities by visualizing power consumption.
• Support for environmentally friendly resins
  • Recycled resins... The deep groove of the plasticizing screw and precision metering control enables stable measurement of recycled resin (crushed material).
  • Biomass resin...Molding of biomass-derived resin contributes to carbon neutrality.

ROBOCUT initiatives

• Improved productivity
  • High machining performance...High-speed machining conditions improve machining speed.
  • High operation rate...Operation rate is improved by high wire connection rate with AWF3 automatic wire connection.
  • Ease of use...Guidance function prevents operation errors and supports lean operation.
• Power consumption reduction
  • Discharge power regeneration...Energy stored in the feed cable when generating discharge pulses is regenerated and reused in the DC power supply of the discharger.
  • Sleep mode...Minimizes power consumption during standby to reduce unnecessary power consumption.
  • Power consumption monitor...Visualizes power consumption to support energy-saving activities. ROBOCUT-LINKi enables one-stop remote monitoring of power consumption by more than one ROBOCUT.
• Longer life of expendable parts
  • Longer life of filter...Filter life is extended through flow control.
  • Extended electrode pin life...Contact pressure between wire and electrode pin is increased to suppress wear caused by electrical discharge, extending the life of the electrode pin.
  • ROBOCUT-LINKi...The usage of expendable parts can be monitored remotely.