Grolman Group to distribute Venator’s pigments in France, Nordics, Baltics & India

Grolman Group announces an exclusive distribution relationship with Venator for France, the Nordics and the Baltics as well as India. This covers Venator’s range of Ultramarine and Manganese Violet Pigments.

Grolman Group is a distributor of specialty chemicals. For Venator and Grolman Group, this move constitutes another expansion of their long collaboration that started more than 40 years ago. Grolman Group is already an exclusive distributor for the Venator Ultramarines and Manganese Violet Pigments in DACH, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Spain, and Portugal.

Venator is a manufacturer and marketer of chemical products. It comprises a broad range of pigments and additives. It brings color and vibrancy to buildings, protect and extend product life, and reduce energy consumption. Venator is based in Wynyard, UK. Venator markets their products globally to a diversified group of industrial customers through two segments – titanium dioxide and performance additives.

7 Effective Furniture Marketing Campaign Ideas to Boost Sales

Furniture is a retail product that requires a lot of space to keep and showcase. Offline furniture sellers invest a hefty amount in buying or leasing storage space and staging them for printed catalogs. It might be possible for sellers who can afford that expense, but what about sellers who cannot?

So today, let’s discuss furniture marketing ideas and a few aspects of modern marketing and promotion for the manufacturing sector:

  • Why online marketing is the future of furniture brand promotion
  • The different channels of marketing your furniture
  • Benefits of each of these formats
  • Tips to enhance furniture promotion and marketing efforts online

Importance of online furniture marketing?

Offline furniture stores have a significant disadvantage when speaking of space. Even if the sellers have products to display, they cannot until the previous stock is sold. Due to the limited color, material, and texture options, even printed catalogs failed after a while.

Online marketing is a one-stop solution to market your furniture business. The sellers can display as many options as they wish, with the added benefit of selling at any time of day. It feeds consumer demands and is a more profitable method than traditional ways of marketing.

Online catalogs showing the furniture industry changes and trends are also an effective way to market your furniture store due to the vast spectrum of solutions they have for home furnishing. The 3D lifestyle images in the catalogs open new pipelines for the retailers to sell and earn them loyal patrons.

However, there is no proper road-map for furniture marketing strategy; we still have a list of some brilliant furniture campaign ideas for your business. Keep scrolling!

What are the best ways to market your furniture?

Market your furniture by utilizing different online platforms to engage with an audience using attractive 3D visuals to highlight your brand’s unique designs.

  1. Social media marketing

    In today’s generation, good service and products are not enough to beat the competition of the growing market. You must be at par with the growing trends as well. Social media marketing always lets you stay a step ahead by being the most productive furniture marketing strategy.

    Social media marketing enables you to:

    • Illustrate your furniture collection.
    • Create advertisements that will reach far and wide.
    • Cope up with the decline in demand for items which had no sale for long.
    • Drive traffic through organic story-telling content (slides, video, textual) about the products.
    • Track target customers from different groups and connect and build a community with them.
    • Update followers by sending notifications on any new post or change related to your business page.

    Every social media platform has its own marketing strategy. Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram are perfect for B2B and B2C sales. Understanding the way they work can surely help you reach a large audience and boost your sales significantly.

  2. Video marketing

    Furniture video marketing involves pairing visuals with suitable audio, like music and/or voice-over narrations, to demonstrate the features and working of an item. Video marketing content can be precise or descriptive, explaining the products, sharing a glimpse of any furniture or a collection, or describing how to assemble the parts.

    Video marketing enables you to:

    • Connect with the audience faster than other means, as people are more attracted to audio-visual content.
    • Build a strong bond with the customers as they get to know the furniture items in detail and also educate them about a product.
    • Grow the conversion rate as video contents are potentially convincing to viewers and influence the buying decision.
    • Audio-visually appealing content increases website traffic and brand awareness.
    • Buyers get more connected to websites that show how the furniture would look or work through animations and gifs.
    • Increase your brand’s online presence.

    Strategically crafting a product video with content the users like consuming and using well-ranking keywords will always make your website rank in the SERP. The more the number of times it appears, the more will be the number of visits to your page.

  3. Niche advertising

    “Niche” means to have the best fit of someone or something. The term “Niche advertisements” comes to play when a certain audience category is targeted during marketing. It’s a way of tracking consumer behavior, like interests and likes and promoting your ad content, particularly to them.

    Niche advertising enables you to:

    • Streamline the promotion process, as it’s easier to sell furniture to those in search of them rather than those not in need.
    • Build and sustain the focus of your targets on your brand as they get to see what they want.
    • Enhance your product quality and services by working on the feedback of the customers, as your focus is a specific audience group.
    • Save ample money that is lost during mass advertisements, and this money can be utilized for other essential tasks.
    • Increase your store’s business profit percentage as you spend less in attracting customers while earning more through focused service.
    • It is one of the furniture sale ideas that prunes the number of competitors around you, letting you serve your targets better.

    Actions like analyzing your target audience, knowing their interests, keeping a vigorous eye on their web activity, creating ad content focusing on their demands and needs, and choosing images, videos or words within the ads greatly influence niche advertising.

  4. Paid ad campaigns

    Another way to make your furniture designs and brand reach the audience is through paid advertisement campaigns. They are available on different browsers, social media platforms and websites. The platforms line up the ads by studying the user’s behavior (the typical way any search engine or social media platform works) and display them to the viewers.

    Paid ad campaigns enable you to:

    • Spread your brand name and reach the audience faster as they are deliberately made to rank in the SERP.
    • Save money by making you pay only when your ad is clicked. This is known as Pay Per Click (PPC) system.
    • Reach a wider audience in a short time as the user count of social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram etc., is on a sharp rise.
    • Paid ads are repeatedly sent to the audience despite being already exposed to them. This in a way compels them to click an ad even if they have seen it before.
    • Viewers of any social media platform love consuming video ads more than picture or textual ads, making them click on the “Shop Now” button even before thinking much.
    • Paid ads follow target marketing, which displays the ad content to a specific category of customers and increases traffic.

    All you have to do is pay the platform to create your ads. Browsers use suitable and trending keywords to keep your brand or its items on top of the search result, while social media platforms use trending hashtags relevant to the furniture item. This furniture advertisement idea is widely known and accepted to increase website traffic and conversion rates.

  5. Affiliate marketing

    Affiliate marketing is a way of promoting products or services through common people, be it a post with an image or video of the person using it on their own profile or channel.

    Affiliate marketing enables you to:

    • Save a lot of money in marketing, as paying commission is much cheaper than paying a hefty amount to promote a furniture item.
    • As affiliate marketing targets educating the customers about the products through reviews and feedback from affiliate marketers who are common people.
    • As ordinary people review the products, they are sometimes more trusted, and the brand makes a lot of sales.
    • Upscale your business’s growth by demonstrating your product’s quality and durability.
    • It’s a low-risk marketing strategy.
    • Peer-reviewed products boost the ROI.

    The affiliate marketers would refer to using a furniture item, e.g., a laptop table, on any platform or banners and offer the prospect a purchase link or code. Every time a prospect uses that link to purchase, the affiliate marketer receives a commission.

  6. Email campaigns

    Email marketing is one of the most effective advertising ideas when your business is young or needs a good promotion. This can be done in two ways:

    • by adding a “newsletter” checkbox after the subscribe button in running social media ads.
    • by taking their email address during the purchase stage.

    Email campaigns enable you to:

    • Increase user engagement through the details of the items attached to the emails or share the website link in that email.
    • Increase conversion rate through the newsletters the customers receive all year round and build a strong customer base.
    • Mention the benefits of the furniture in short, along with some added benefits like free consultations, etc., to attract buyers.
    • Send ads, offers and coupons based on the type of product the customer searched for on your website.
    • Remind the customers about the furniture items and new launches through timely campaigns.
    • Use eye-catching and compelling words, as buyers are a lot influenced by how an ad is written.

    Successful furniture businesses use email marketing to promote new products, sell dated furniture by putting up sales, and even sell items that have not sold for long. The marketing emails should be catchy enough to evoke prospects’ responses.

  7. Use 3D models, 3D configurators and AR technology

    Modern-day furniture sellers hardly use pictures and furniture stagers for promoting and selling their products. 3D furniture models come cheap, handy, and visually enticing. They also give innumerable furniture promotion ideas.

    These features enable you to:

    • Make use of 3D furniture models, which will give the customers an all-around idea about the furniture’s dimensions, shape, material and texture.
    • Give a personalized experience to the prospects by using 3D configurators on your website and offer them options to choose and configure their products even before buying.
    • Use 3D lifestyle catalogs instead of simply staged furniture photos on your website, as prospects will always prefer an online store where they can choose, modify and get ideas for home furnishing.
    • Use augmented reality technology for furniture showcase and let the buyers view the 3D furniture models in their house setting even before buying and physically installing it.
    • 360-degree furniture models help the customer to know the products better and hence build the brand name.

    The impactful visuals of the 3D models and any other 3D-related feature in a furniture website have been proven to increase sales and ROI and help a brand establish its name in today’s competitive market.

Bonus tips to enhance your furniture marketing methods

  • Make your website visually appealing and user-friendly – A website with 3D furniture models on the landing page will always gather more eyeballs. With the help of reputed 3D design service providers, enhance your website by showcasing your furniture designs in an interactive manner.
  • Make the payment process easier – UPI payment options or “Scan to pay” attracts more buyers than websites where they have to enter card details every time during any purchase.
  • Omni-channel experience – Customers would only return to a brand if they get complete support through all the channels like emails, Whatsapp chat, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, etc., apart from the parent website.
  • Use interactive chatbots – A chatbot popping up immediately after the web page loads will help potential buyers get the answers to all the queries related to a product or its purchase without having to hunt the entire website.
  • Influencer marketing – Influencer marketing is simply leveraging a person’s fame or a public figure to market one’s products. It’s a go-to choice for business owners today as people are a lot influenced by these public figures, which hugely improves brand perception.

Wrapping up!

Building a mark in the market takes a lot of time, energy, patience and effort, and the pressure of maintaining that name comes with that. The furniture business involves huge investments, but using the correct marketing strategy can cut down marketing costs to a great extent. This results in increased ROI, positive brand awareness and investment of that money in expanding your business further.

Online marketing is one of the budget-friendly and affordable furniture store promotion option for furniture sellers, and attempts are still being made to enrich the online shopping experience for customers.

In the time of computers, mobile phones and the internet, people hardly like to go out to shop, even if it’s a massive item like furniture. Technological advancements now give buyers a personalized shopping experience in the comfort of their houses, which is why online furniture sales have crossed a whooping figure.

So if you are still unsure whether to start selling your furniture online or not, we hope this blog can give you the correct direction for your online furniture sales. If you need any furniture 3D design services, talk with our experts and convert your furniture ideas into digital 3D designs.

Keep following us for more useful 3D design tips and techniques!

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Related Blog Posts

  • 3D visualization: How it is used in furniture trade shows efficiently
  • Benefits of Furniture 3D Models Based on Business Needs
  • Benefits of 3D Furniture Rendering Over Traditional Photography
  • 10 Factors Affecting the Price of 3D Furniture Modeling
  • Local Rendering Services Vs Overseas 3D Rendering Companies
  • What is Mixed Reality? In-Depth Guide For The Beginner’s

Cardi B's Manicure Combines Two of TikTok's Favorite Things: Duck Nails and Shirley Temples

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Cardi B is embracing duck nails, aka the flared nail-shape trend on beauty TikTok exploding with dimensional designs and quirky how-tos. On September 6, the rapper gave a detailed view of her latest set on her Instagram story. To note, this manicure might just have you craving the taste of a Shirley Temple, the feel-good mocktail currently trending on the app as well.

The cool mom's beauty drip just keeps on giving. Her second child, Wave, just marked one whole year around the sun, and the Bronx native took to wide, French-dipped tips to celebrate. On her ring finger, the Shirley Temple theme popped with a large 3D cherry design. Gems decorated every other nail, including red and silver heart accents as well. Cardi B is keeping the Y2K duck-nail aesthetic in high motion, but I do have to give it to Jersey Shore's finest, Snooki, who popularized the shape way back when the show first aired in the 2000s. 

Not only were her nails icy in design, but so was her hair. The rapper opted for a silver-blue wig while coordinating denim outfits with her husband Offset, and their kiddos on the same day. 

I could only imagine the influx of ideas Cardi must bring to her go-to nail artist, Jenny M Bui. One thing is for sure: There's nothing she can't do with every nail shape and length she takes on. When the mom of two was asked how she functions with her acrylic tips, Cardi created a video showcasing how she makes it work while changing diapers. She takes pride in her manicured tips, as she should. Each one is more note-worthy than the last and ultra-lavish in true Cardi fashion.


More on dimensional manicures:

  • 3D Jelly Nails Will Be Taking Over Tips This Summer
  • The 7 Biggest Nail Trends in South Korea Right Now
  • Jennifer Lopez Put a Floral, 3D Spin on the French Manicure

Now, watch a shag cut in motion:

Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter.

Chinese Traditional Hanfu Dress Tang Dynasty Clothing Female

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Chinese Traditional Hanfu Dress Tang Dynasty Clothing Female

Style: Chinese Traditional Hanfu Dress
Fabric: Thick chiffon(100% polyester)
Model: Height 160cm; Weight 42kg
Model Try On: M

This Tang Dynasty Hanfu Dress is mainly in blue and orange color, which is very characteristic of the Tang Dynasty. The dress is embroidered with exquisite caisson patterns, which is classical and elegant.

The overall selection of comfortable thick chiffon fabric, light and elegant clothes, and ingenious printing embellishments are enough for the graceful posture of girls.

Package Included:
One Shirt
One Dress

Elf Bar Crystal CR600 Disposable Vape Kit

ELF BAR CRYSTAL CR600 KIT

The Elf Bar Crystal CR600 Kit is an easy-to-use mouth-to-lung (MTL) setup, perfectly fitting in the palm of your hand with its crystal cube design and shape. Incorporating Elf Bar’s technologically advanced QUAQ mesh coil and QUAQ Cell battery ensures the delivery of a consistently smooth and enjoyable flavour with a smooth nicotine hit.

There is a flavour for everyone, with 23 fruit, menthol and tobacco-inspired flavours, including unique offerings such as Barcelona Melon, Alpine Ice and Pineapple Mojito, all with 20 mg (2%) nicotine strengths.

Each Elf Bar’s Crystal CR600 comes pre-filled with 2 ml of nicotine salt e-liquid and has an internal 350 mAh battery for delivery of up to approximately 600 puffs per device.

If you’re looking to mix and match your flavours, then check out other Elf Bar devices, such as the Elf Bar 600 V2 and original Elf Bar 600 disposable vape kits, which can be mixed and matched with our 5 for £20 multibuy deal.

Features

  • Crystal cube design
  • QUAQ Mesh coil technology
  • QUAQ Cell battery efficiency
  • Metallised casing with LED light indicator
  • 23 Flavours to choose from

QUAQ Mesh

The QUAQ Mesh coil, featured in Elf Bar 600 V2 and Lost Mary DM600 X2 devices, is designed to have a resistance of 1.2Ω. However, as with any coil, there may be a slight deviation in the actual resistance. To ensure consistency and reliability in performance across different batches, QUAQ Coils are intentionally engineered with a narrow tolerance of 0.02Ω. This means the coils’ resistance will not deviate from 1.18Ω to 1.22Ω. By maintaining such a low tolerance, QUAQ Coils guarantee uniformity in resistance and predictable performance.

With the QUAQ Mesh Coil, you’ll notice enhanced longevity and better flavour reproduction. Elf Bar has improved the coil’s efficiency, improving battery life and maximising the e-liquid. The QUAQ Mesh Coil is also used in the Lost Mary QM600. Please read our blog on QUAQ Mesh Coil Technology: Innovations and Advancements to learn more.

QUAQ Cell

Elf Bar QUAQ Cell signals an industry-wide shift to automation, integrating battery and PCBA (printed circuit board assembly) in a modular design to automate manufacturing and facilitate battery recycling.
The QUAQ Cell guarantees a consistent output without voltage drops, ensuring a pure and smooth vaping experience from the first puff to the last, without interruption.

23 Flavours

Elf Bar’s Crystal CR600 device is available in twenty-three fruit, tobacco and menthol-inspired flavours, delivering a smooth nicotine hit in 20 mg strength.

20 mg (2%)

  • Alpine Ice (Ice Menthol)
  • Banana Ice
  • Barcelona Melon
  • Blue Razz Lemonade
  • Blueberry
  • Blueberry Sour Raspberry
  • Classic Ice Coffee
  • Cola
  • Double Apple
  • Grape
  • Lemon Lime
  • Menthol
  • Pineapple Ice
  • Pineapple Lemon Lime
  • Pineapple Mojito
  • Rinbo (Rainbow Candy)
  • Sour Red (Sour Apple)
  • Strawberry Ice
  • Strawberry Kiwi
  • Strawberry Raspberry Cherry
  • Triple Mango
  • USA Mix
  • Watermelon

Get 5 for £20 on our Multibuy Deal

Mix and match 5 for £20 with other disposable kits. Shop 5 for £20 →

 

Each Elf Bar Crystal CR600 disposable kit can provide up to approximately 600 puffs. Puff counts are approximate and dependent on the length of draws on each use. Significantly lower puff counts can be found if longer draws are taken.

Please note:

To order multiple flavours, select each desired flavour and quantity, add that flavour to the cart, and repeat for each additional flavour.

Parameters

  • Size: 64 x 35.5 x 17.5 mm
  • E-Liquid capacity: 2 ml
  • Nicotine strength: 20mg/ml
  • Puffs: Up to approximately 600
  • Battery: 350 mAh

 

Are you not sure how to recycle your single-use vape bar responsibly? Check out our blog on how to recycle your disposable vape bars responsibly.

Want a vaping device you can refill and reuse? A refillable pod vape kit is a great place to start!

Unsure if an Elf Bar Crystal CR600 Disposable Kit is right for you?

Disposables have their benefits, but they also have their drawbacks. In the interest of balance, we have outlined the pros and cons of disposables in this guide to help you make an informed decision.

Check out our guide on nicotine salts vs freebase nicotine to learn about the difference between the nicotine types and how that affects your vaping experience.

Elf Bar Elfliq Mango Nic Salt

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MANGO ELFBAR ELFLIQ NIC SALT E-LIQUID

Mango – one of the most popular flavours from Elf Bar’s range of ElfLiq vape juice. ElfLiq Mango is a delicious tropical mango flavour that will tantalize your taste buds. Explore the complete range of ElfLiq E-Liquids to discover more fruity, menthol, and soda-inspired disposable flavours available in convenient e-liquid bottles.

Specifications

  • Nicotine Type: Nicotine Salt
  • Bottle Size: 10ml
  • Nicotine Strength: 5mg, 10mg & 20mg
  • VG/PG Ratio: 50/50
  • Vaping Style: MTL
  • Easy Fill Nozzle
  • Childproof Cap

ElfLiq Mango is a nicotine salt e-liquid available in 10ml bottles with a childproof cap and an easy-fill nozzle. Each 10ml bottle contains five times the amount of e-liquid found in an Elf Bar 600, providing you with ample e-liquid to enjoy the delicious flavour at an excellent price.

With nicotine strengths of 5mg, 10mg and 20mg, you can quickly satisfy your cravings. Nicotine salts offer a smooth throat hit and enhanced flavour, making ElfLiq Mango a satisfying choice.

Each bottle of Mango has a VG/PG ratio of 50/50, perfect for mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaping with lower-power devices. We recommend Vape Starter Kits and Pod Vape Kits for the best experience.

Mango ElfLiq was created by Elf Bar, a brand known for its delightful flavours in the disposable vape industry. Enjoy the same iconic taste at an affordable price while reducing waste, as you don’t need to dispose of any batteries.

Looking to move away from disposables but unsure which kit to choose? Check out our Mate 500 + ElfLiq Nic Salts Bundle – it includes everything you need to start vaping in a more sustainable way at a great price.

CES 2021: Top 6 Tech Trends to Watch This Year

Time to read: 5 min

One of the most popular sessions during the opening of CES is “Tech Trends To Watch” with CTA (Consumer Technology Association) Vice President of Research Steve Koenig, this year assisted by Research Director Lesley Rohrbaugh as they take their audience through the latest trends driving the industry, the ingredient technologies having the most impact, and the consumer and product applications to watch. 

Steve Koenig opened by quoting Christopher Freeman, a British Economist, who said “Innovation accelerates and bunches up during economic downturns only to be unleashed as the economy begins to recover, ushering in powerful new waves of technological change.” This year that seems truer than ever with innovation moving faster than we’ve ever seen. According to McKinsey’s Meet the Next Normal Consumer Report in April of 2020, global tech adoption is in fast forward with e-commerce ramping more in eight weeks than the previous ten years, with telemedicine growing 10x in 15 days, with Disney hitting 50M streaming video subscribers in five months, compared to Netflix’s seven years, and with 250 Million student moving to online learning in just two weeks.

Meanwhile CTA believes that the “Intelligence of Things” is gaining huge momentum. AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine learning) matter much more as a result of the pandemic, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is poised to become a $2 Billion industry in 2021, NPL (Natural Language Processing) is gaining support, and 59% of global enterprises expect their cloud usage will be higher than planned this year. 

According the the CTA, the six key trends for 2021 are digital health, robotics and drones, 5G connectivity, digital transformation, vehicle technology and smart cities, here’s why:

Trend #1: Digital Health

The universe of digital health is continuing to expand and fulfill ever growing demand thanks to everyday lifestyle trends, remote patient care, and the need for providers to gain greater efficiency to meet that demand. In 2020 revenue from connected health devices grew a massive 73% to $632 Million and their five year forecast shows another jump of 34% in 2021 and a steady 14% growth in 2022, 23 and 24. Meanwhile wearables are becoming key in this space with devices like the Oura Ring and BioButton by BioIntelliSense offering alternatives to the smartwatch form factor. And the future if digital health is packed full of innovation opportunities from robot triage helpers, through AI in diagnostics to XR in patient care and surgery.

Trend #2: Digital Transformation

Last year, Microsoft CEO Staya Nadella said, “we’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”. Meanwhile the pandemic has triggered a race to cloud among global enterprises. Flexera’s 2020 State of the Cloud Report shows that 59% expect cloud usage to exceed prior plans due to the pandemic, 61% plan to focus on cloud migration and a whopping 83% cited security as their top cloud challenge, closely followed by cost (82%). 

As examples of accelerated transformation, the COVID era has driven greater digital transformation in numerous areas. Digital fitness spend grew more than 30% during the pandemic and many gyms began to offer online classes and they entered the digital fitness space. Education also accelerated its digital transformation with schools adopting meeting platforms to hold lectures and classes. And the legal sector has adapted quickly as digital platforms are used for court proceedings to facilitate social distancing and conference platforms are used for a variety of hearings.

Trend #3: Robots and Drones

Robots and drones have been coming to the rescue in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting tasks like cleaning, delivery, retail inventory management, close contact tasks like cooking or recycling, healthcare, and support of those isolated, such as monitoring at-risk individuals. Hygiene robotics has been an important sector and looks likely to continue its growth with robots sanitising aircrafts, hospitals, common areas and retail outlets. 

At the same time we are seeing substantial growth in robotics for logistics with companies like Starship Technologies in Estonia, Balyo in France and PAL Robotics in Spain gaining huge amounts of funding in 2020. Autonomous delivery is both hitting the road and taking flight with solutions like Amazon’s Scout Delivery Robot and Matternet’s M2 Drone being utilized by UPS and CVS. In their Autonomous Delivery Systems Awareness and Favorability Study, CTA found around a quarter of respondents are considering autonomous delivery more favorably, while 14% find it less favorable than it was. The numbers are almost the same for flying drones, sidewalk delivery robots and self-driving delivery vehicles.

Trend #4: Transportation

As for transportation, there’s a lot to unpack. Mobility-as-a-Service is on the rise, changing the way we think about vehicle ownership. C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle to Everything) connectivity is starting to become a reality thanks to the low latency and high speeds offered by 5G. Self-driving vehicle fleets are also taking to the road in numerous locations and companies like Waymo are set for substantial growth. But the biggest change to the automotive industry is the huge shift from internal combustion to electrification. And America’s favorite vehicle, the truck is getting ready for this brave new world, with new entries like Rivian as well as new models from the incumbents like Ford and Hummer. 

Trend #5: 5G

The current pandemic has accelerated 5G capital expenditure and seeded jobs growth in the sector. According to Qualcomm and IHS Markit’s 2020 5G Economy Study, investment was up almost 11% over the forecast made in 2019. That’s $260 billion in collective investment in R&D and capital expenditure, on top of $235 billion the previous year. It seems China will be the largest investor in 5G at around $1.7 trillion, closely followed by the US with $1.3 trillion through 2035. The study also reported that 5G related jobs are expected to increase to 22.8 million over the next 15 years.

Trend #6: Smart Cities

One has to wonder how different the crisis might have been if we’d already got Smart Cities. What is clear is that they will have an important role in the future, with networked sensors that can check temperature, with smart kiosks that can deliver important information, with data dashboards that keep citizens updated in real time and with state-of-the-art digital contact tracing for close contacts of anyone infected. These smart city technologies are also playing a role as people return to work. Touchless and voice enabled technology can reduce human contact with surfaces, while technology is also being deployed to clean those surfaces and the air in the workplace. Occupancy and social distance is also being supported by new technologies. And, of course, we are all familiar with the remote collaboration tools which are now part of everyday life.

Key Takeaways

All up the CTA is expecting an exciting week and another year of growth for the US tech industry. They predict the sector will grow 4.3% in 2021 to $461 Billion, as millions of Americans remain home and rely on tech to stay entertained, connected and healthy. “The pandemic has pushed the fast-forward button on tech adoption – from our homes to our work to our doctor’s offices,” said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, CTA. “While the road to a full economic recovery is long and intertwined with a complex vaccine rollout, the tech industry’s ability to meet the moment during this crisis has been critical.” 

CNC Machining with Robotics – Outlook and Manufacturing of Cobots in CNC Machining

Time to read: 5 min

Collaborative robots, commonly known as cobots, are so named because they are designed to provide collaborative, safe assistance to people. The first cobot was invented in 1996 by J. Edward Colgate and Michael Pashkin – and today, cobots are growing increasingly popular in manufacturing and industrial settings, performing simple, repetitive tasks such as feeding a CNC machine with parts or taking machined parts from a CNC machine and putting them in crates for inspection.  

Cobots vs Robots

Cobots are different from traditional industrial robots as they tend to be smaller, less expensive, and supremely flexible. Whereas a traditional manufacturing robot can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, most cobots cost less than fifty thousand dollars. And they’re considered revolutionary because they can function directly next to humans without cages or safety gates.

Common Cobot Utilizations

Machine tending is the most common utilization of cobots in manufacturing applications, due to the overwhelmingly mundane nature of the task. Parts must be individually loaded, machined, and then unloaded. By utilizing cobots to manage that monotony, employees can instead focus on more complex tasks. It’s even possible for a single employee to oversee the operations of several machines at once. 

The popularity of cobots in machining can be attributed to their ability to perform tasks that may be riskier from a safety standpoint. Cobots are ideal for manual operations where the employees would otherwise be exposed to conditions such as excessive heat, noise, or pollutants. It’s also no secret that the tasks we ask humans to perform in manufacturing environments are often ergonomically challenging and cause excessive stress on the human body. Cobots are an excellent solution to the ergonomic problem, performing all the physically strenuous tasks and protecting the health and safety of the employees. 

Examples of other common cobot utilizations include: 

  1. Object Relocation: Specifically picking and placing from bins or a conveyor system
  2. Packaging/Palletizing: Prepping products for shipment, box assembly, and placing objects on pallets
  3. Manufacturing Processes: Utilization of tooling to perform a task on a workpiece – such as gluing, welding, soldering
  4. Post-Machining Finishing: Manual operations involving tooling and precision – such as deburring, polishing, grinding

Why Design Your Cobot Tooling?

Now that we understand some of the most common cobot applications, it is time to consider the best route for obtaining cobot tooling. On the one hand, you could purchase a pre-made system, but that may result in having an incorrect configuration for the task you are hoping to have the cobot accomplish. On the other, designing cobot tooling or components yourself can be a challenging task – albeit, we think a rewarding one.

Choosing to design cobot tooling yourself also means that you can determine the ideal cobot/human interaction. A cobot’s automation can be partial, requiring human input and assistance, or complete, allowing the cobot to function autonomously. Designing and building your cobot components ensures that it is correctly and purposefully incorporated into your manufacturing environment. You can simplify or modify the movements and operation of the cobot to fit in with your company’s processes and approach to automation. 

Which Cobot Components are Optimal for Designing and CNC Machining?

When designing cobot components, the most obvious for CNC machining is the End of Arm Tooling (EOAT). The term EOAT defines a broad group of tooling that is attached to the end of the robotic arm. This tooling is what connects and allows interactions to occur with cobots and the physical world around them. 

There are endless possibilities for EOAT configurations and applications. Some are more optimal for CNC machining though, so be sure to reference our CNC quick guide at the end of this article to help you determine where you should start with your cobot’s End of Arm Tooling.

Vacuum Grippers

Popular for numerous cobot applications, vacuum-powered grippers are an excellent choice for CNC machining. These types of tooling are easy to operate and provide impressive lifting power for their size. These types of EOAT grippers are particularly useful for picking and placing applications, especially where workpieces have uneven or irregularly shaped surfaces. Vacuum gripper EOATs typically consist of a frame with attachment points for suction cups and vacuum lines – although, some types utilize electricity instead of an external air supply. Both the frame and attachment points are suitable for CNC machining. 

Pro-tip: Choose lightweight materials for CNC machined EOAT. Fictiv offers a wide range of materials for cobot tooling, such as aluminum, titanium, and various grades of plastic polymers. 

Mechanical Grippers

If you’ve ever been around tiny humans (aka children) or studied biomechanics, you’ve probably heard of the pincer grasp. This is humans’ ability to hold an object between their thumb and index finger. We start to develop this skill as babies around the age of 9-10 months. It’s an important skill that allows for precision when picking up and relocating objects. The mechanical gripper EOAT was developed to model the human pincer grasp, typically involving gripper mechanisms with a type of fingers attached to the end of them. The fingers of the mechanical grippers are coated with -or have been covered with- material that provides grip, without allowing objects to slide off of them, such as silicon or rubber. All of the components, except for the gripping surfaces, can be CNC machined.  

Pro-tip: Aim for a mechanical gripper design that will allow you to replace the fingers as the gripping surface wears.

Manufacturing Process Tools 

With the advancements in cobot design and maneuverability, companies also choose to have cobots perform the tedious manufacturing process tasks they require regularly. Great examples of these are drilling, sealant application, welding, deburring, and shearing processes. To determine which manufacturing processes you should consider for cobot incorporation first, consider the following: 

  • How ergonomic is the process now? If there is significant wear on humans performing the tasks, consider breaking them up and having a cobot perform the most physically strenuous task component.
  • Does the manufacturing process require steady pressure, application speed, or consistent timing? If so, cobots are ideal for achieving consistency.
  • Would the incorporation of a cobot in the manufacturing process allow for more throughput in the manufacturing system as a whole? Cobots provide a helping hand to increase productivity. 

Common EOAT types which are suitable for CNC machining include: 

  • Cobot welding nozzles
  • Cobot sealant or caulk applicators
  • Cobot drilling heads
  • Cobot shearing tools

Pro-tip: Design your EOAT with a tapered end, where possible. This will enable you to utilize the tooling to reach narrow crevices and even inside smaller cavities. 

For more, check out our Ultimate Guide to CNC Machining which will help spark your innovative energy to begin designing your custom cobot components today. Then use our CNC machining service to easily upload a design for an instant quote and free, DFM feedback and start optimizing your manufacturing process today!

Crescent Tea Light Holder & Oil Burner

Glass Crescent Tea Light Holder & Oil Burner

Designed to hold tea light candles, and diffuse essential oils. 
Measurements: Height 11.5cm, Width 13cm.

*Tea light candle and oil not included.

Check out our range of essential oils HERE

@nzcandlesupplies Diffuse your essential oils using our tea light holder and oil burner. Check out our range of essential oils on our website #fyp #nzcandlesupplies #essentialoils ♬ Lazy Sunday – Official Sound Studio

Dyeing of polycarbonate resin

Researchers have studied the effects of surface fluorination on the dyeing of polycarbonate resin.

The surface of polycarbonate (PC) was fluorinated with a mixed gas of F2 and O2 at 25 °C for 1 h. The surface roughness (Ra) of the fluorinated PC samples was about double that of the untreated sample (0.685 nm), while the water contact angle of the fluorinated PC samples decreased from 80° to 12°.

Enhanced dyeing properties

The dyeing properties of the PC surface were enhanced after surface fluorination due to the increased roughness and hydrophilicity. Fluorination using a mixed gas with a higher F2 proportion led to the formation of a thicker dyeable fluoride layer, thereby giving a deeper color after staining of the PC surface.

The study has been published in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 19, March 2022.

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