FANUC
FANUC is a Japanese group of companies that provide automation products and services such as robotics and computer numerical control systems. FANUC is the world's largest maker of industrial robots.
FANUC had its beginnings as part of Fujitsu, developing NC and servo systems. FANUC is an acronym for Fuji Automatic Numerical Control.
FANUC is organized into 3 business units: FA, ROBOT, and ROBOMACHINE. These three units are unified with SERVICE as "one FANUC".
History
In 1955, Fujitsu Ltd. approached Seiuemon Inaba, who was then a young engineer, to lead a new subsidiary purposed to make the field of numerical control. This nascent form of automation involved sending instructions encoded into punched cards or magnetic tape to motors that controlled the movement of tools, effectively creating programmable versions of the lathes, presses, and milling machines. Within three years after spending heavily in R&D, he and his team of 500 employees shipped Fujitsu's first numerical-control machine to Makino Milling Machine Co. In 1972, the Computing Control Division became independent and FANUC Ltd. was established. The next phase of expansion would be computer numerical control, which relied on G-code, a standard programming language. At the time, the 10 largest CNC companies in the world were based in the U.S., however by 1982, FANUC had captured half of the world CNC market.FANUC is listed on the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the TOPIX 100 and Nikkei 225 stock market indices. It is headquartered in Yamanashi Prefecture.
In 1982, FANUC entered into a joint venture with General Motors Corporation, called GMFanuc Robotics Corporation, to produce and market robots in the United States. The new company was 50 percent owned by each partner and was based in Detroit, with GM providing most of the management and FANUC the products.
In 1986, GE Fanuc Automation Corporation was jointly established in the US by FANUC and General Electric. Under the joint venture company, three operating companies, GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc., in the U.S., GE Fanuc Automation Europe S.A. in Luxembourg, and Fanuc GE Automation Asia Ltd. in Japan were established. GE stopped making its own CNC equipment and turned its Charlottesville, Virginia, plant over to the new company which produces FANUC CNC devices. FANUC adopted the German engineering slogan Weniger Teile, which means "fewer parts;" machines with fewer parts are cheaper to produce and easier for automatons to assemble, resulting in higher reliability and lower manufacturing costs.
The company's clients include numerous U.S. and Japanese automobile and electronics manufacturers. Use of industrial robots has allowed companies like Panasonic in Amagasaki to run factories which produce 2 million television sets a month with just 25 people.
FANUC has over 240 joint ventures subsidiaries, and offices in over 46 countries. It is the largest maker of CNC controls by market share with 65% of the global market and is the leading manufacturer of factory automation systems.
Business units
FANUC is organized into three business units: FA, ROBOT, ROBOMACHINE.FA (Factory Automation)
The FA group produces automation equipment and systems that can be implemented into custom industrial automation solutions. Products include servomotors, HMIs, and controls. FA is a foundational FANUC technology with roots back to the 1970's when FANUC was marrying its servomotor product with computers to create the field of computer numerical control technology. Today, FA products continue to be used to create automated systems in over 100 countries around the world. It is common for the FA group to deliver controls and servomotors to machine tool builders who integrate them into a conventional CNC machine. A significant proportion of the world's CNC machines are powered by FANUC controls.ROBOT
The robot group integrates FANUC servomotor and control technology into robotic arms for use in industrial environments.Robomachine
FANUC also produces a range of finished machines included ROBODRILL machining centers, ROBOSHOT injection molding machines, and ROBOCUT EDM machines.Subsidiaries and joint ventures
FANUC Europe Corporation S.A., a sister company, is headquartered in Luxembourg, with customers in Europe, and which provides sales, service and support in Europe and abroad.FANUC America Corporation is responsible for FANUC operations in North and South America. The current incarnation, organized in 2013, unifies FANUC activities in the Americas, including the former FANUC Robotics America Corporation and FANUC CNC America, which succeeded an earlier incarnation of FANUC America Corporation.
FANUC Robotics America Corporation supplied robotic automation in North and South America, with over 240,000 robots installed. It also produced software, controls, and vision products that aid in the development of robotic systems. Headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, the company had 10 regional locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provided these systems for applications including automotive and fabricated metals to medical devices and plastics. It was founded in 1982 as a joint venture between FANUC Ltd and General Motors Corporation, named GMFanuc Robotics Corporation. A staff of 70 began work at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. In 1992, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of FANUC Ltd of Oshino-mura, Japan. The company was a member of the Robotics Industries Association and of the International Federation of Robotics.
In 2010, FANUC America Corporation and the prior CNC business unit from GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms in the US were combined into a new company by the name of FANUC CNC America. This business unit was a wholly owned subsidiary of FANUC Ltd. of Japan and offered CNC systems, lasers, Manufacturing Intelligence software products, field repairs and advanced technical services, expanded training classes, a vast inventory of CNC replacement parts, PCB motor repair and return, field support, and CS-24 after hours support. It was headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It offered CNC and laser technical services, training, replacement parts, PCB and motor repair and return, field support, and after hours support. It had over 30 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. The company provides these services to machine tool builders, machine tool dealers, and small mom and pop tool shops across a variety of industries. In 1977, the company was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of FANUC Ltd of Oshino-mura, Japan.
GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms was a joint venture between General Electric and FANUC Ltd. In 2009, GE and FANUC Ltd. agreed to split, with FANUC Ltd. retaining the CNC business. GE renamed its part of the business GE Intelligent Platforms.
FANUC India operations are now led by Yuki Kita, who succeeded Sonali Kulkarni.
FANUC NC controller
Control / device naming conventions
Each generation of the FANUC numerical control system has different levels of device control capabilities, and these are generally referred to by a model or series number.Each controller model is typically available with several device control capabilities, depending on what software functions are licensed for use on that device. Some common control capabilities are:
- M - Milling
- T - Turning
- TT - Twin Turret
- P - Punch press
- G - Grinding
Model 0 is somewhat unusual in that both the number zero and the letter O are used interchangeably to indicate the model.
No specific syntax distinguishes the model from the device type and series, with spaces or dashes or slashes. For example, in the , these are all valid identifications for various types of NC controls and machines:
| Various model names | Type | Series | Notes |
| FANUC-0MA, FANUC 0-MA, FANUC 0M-A, FANUC 0M/A, FANUC 0-M-A, FANUC 0-M/A, FANUC 0 M-A, FANUC 0 M/A, FANUC-0M Model A, FANUC 0-M Model A, FANUC 0/M Model A | Milling | A | number 0 |
| FANUC-OPA, FANUC O-PA, FANUC OP-A, FANUC OP/A, FANUC O-P-A, FANUC O-P/A, FANUC O P-A, FANUC O P/A, FANUC-OP Model A, FANUC O-P Model A, FANUC O/P Model A | Punching | A | letter O |
| FANUC-0TB, FANUC 0-TB, FANUC 0T-B, FANUC 0T/B, FANUC 0-T-B, FANUC 0-T/B, FANUC 0 T-B, FANUC 0 T/B, FANUC-0T Model B, FANUC 0-T Model B, FANUC 0/T Model B | Turning | B | number 0 |
| FANUC-0TTB, FANUC 0-TTB, FANUC 0TT-B, FANUC 0TT/B, FANUC 0-TT-B, FANUC 0-TT/B, FANUC 0 TT-B, FANUC 0 TT/B, FANUC-0TT Model B, FANUC 0-TT Model B, FANUC 0/TT Model B | Twin Turret | B | number 0 |
| FANUC-0GC, FANUC 0-GC, FANUC 0G-C, FANUC 0G/C, FANUC 0-G-C, FANUC 0-G/C, FANUC 0 G-C, FANUC 0 G/C, FANUC-0G Model C, FANUC 0-G Model C, FANUC 0/G Model C | Grinding | C | number 0 |