Industrial Robotics Automation Meets Software: AB Automation and DL Minds
AB Automation Private Limited is a Surat-based industrial robotics automation company with 16+ years in the field. They supply and commission Mitsubishi Electric robots, PLCs, servo systems and Oriental Motor motion products. DL Minds works alongside them on the software side: getting data out of the machines, and building the dashboards, service tools and integrations that plant owners actually use every day.
This is a guest post written by the team at AB Automation, a long-time partner of DL Minds. It explains their work in industrial robotics automation and how the two companies split hardware and software on shared projects.
Who AB Automation is
We are AB Automation Private Limited, an industrial automation and robotics company based in Surat, Gujarat. For more than 16 years we have designed, supplied and commissioned automation for plants across India, and we have delivered 45+ projects in that time.
Two partnerships sit at the centre of what we do:
- Authorised Channel Partner of Mitsubishi Electric for servo systems, PLCs, HMIs, drives and MELFA SCARA and 6-axis robots.
- Authorised Distributor of Oriental Motor for stepper, brushless and speed-control motors, plus compact OVR articulated and Cartesian robots.
We also carry out component-level repair of AC/DC and servo drives across brands such as ABB, Siemens, Panasonic, Yaskawa, Danfoss, Delta, Rexroth, Lenze and Fuji, which means a lot of our work is keeping existing lines running, not only installing new ones.
What industrial robotics automation looks like on the floor
"Robotics" can sound like a car plant with hundreds of welding arms. For most of our customers it is far more specific: one robot cell or one upgraded machine that removes a bottleneck. Our services cover:
- Robotics integration and commissioning with SCARA and 6-axis robots for pick-and-place, assembly, handling and packing.
- PLC, HMI and motion control design and programming.
- Custom machine and OEM automation for machine builders who need a reliable control system in their product.
- Control panel design and building.
- Retrofitting and modernisation of older machines, including embedded and customised controls for textile machinery.
- SCADA, DCS, instrumentation and networking for process plants.
- Boiler energy-saving automation.
- Training and annual maintenance contracts (AMC).
The industries we serve include textile, diamond and jewellery, electronics assembly, packaging, pharmaceutical, FMCG, engineering, chemical, power, metals and OEM machine builders. Surat's textile and diamond sectors in particular have a lot of precise, repetitive work that robots and servo motion handle well.
Where the hardware stops and software starts
A commissioned robot cell does its job: it picks, places, packs or assembles at a steady cycle time. But the plant owner usually asks the next questions within weeks:
- How many parts did the cell produce per shift, and how many were rejected?
- Why did the line stop at 3 a.m., and for how long?
- Which machines are due for maintenance, and which spare parts do we need?
- Can production numbers flow into our ERP or Excel reports without someone typing them?
The PLC and robot controller already hold most of that information in registers, counters and alarm logs. What is missing is a software layer that reads it reliably, stores it and shows it to the right people. That layer is not our core business, and it is exactly where DL Minds comes in.
How the AB Automation and DL Minds teams work together
The split is simple: we own everything on the machine side of the network cable, and DL Minds owns everything on the software side.
| Area | AB Automation | DL Minds |
|---|---|---|
| Robots, PLCs, drives, panels | Selection, supply, wiring, programming, commissioning | None |
| Data exposure | Map tags and registers; enable communication on the controller | Agree on the tag list and polling frequency |
| Data collection | Network access on site | Collector service, database, buffering when the network drops |
| Dashboards and reports | Define what operators and maintenance staff need | Design and build web and mobile screens |
| Integrations | None | ERP, CRM, WhatsApp/email alerts, exports |
| Support | Machine-side AMC | Software hosting, updates and fixes |
Because the tag mapping is agreed up front, the software team never has to guess what register D200 means, and the automation team never has to debug a web server. Each side works in the area it knows best.
The software we build around the robots
The software side of our joint work typically falls into a few categories.
Machine data collection
A small service runs on a plant PC or edge device and reads values from the PLCs and robot controllers on a fixed interval using industrial protocols such as Mitsubishi's MC protocol (SLMP), Modbus TCP or OPC UA, depending on the hardware. It stores readings locally if the internet connection drops and syncs them when it comes back.
Production and downtime dashboards
Web dashboards show live machine status, production counts per shift, cycle times, alarms and downtime reasons. Plant owners can check them from a phone without walking the floor. Shift supervisors can tag a stoppage with a reason so the reports explain why output dropped, not only that it did.
Maintenance and service tools
For our AMC customers, a service portal tracks machines installed at each site, breakdown tickets, visit reports, drive repair jobs and spare parts. Customers raise a ticket, our engineers update it from the field and both sides keep the history. This is the same kind of system DL Minds builds under its CRM and ERP systems work, adapted to service operations.
Integrations and alerts
Production data is often more useful outside the dashboard. DL Minds connects it to the customer's ERP or accounting system, sends WhatsApp or email alerts when a machine sits idle beyond a threshold, and generates daily PDF or Excel summaries for management.
Smarter analysis over time
Once a plant has months of clean machine data, it becomes possible to spot patterns, such as a drive whose current draw creeps up before it fails or a shift that consistently runs slower. This is where DL Minds' AI development work can be applied, but only after the basics of reliable data collection are in place.
How a joint project runs
- Site survey. We visit the plant, study the process and identify which machines to automate or retrofit.
- Automation design. We specify the robots, PLCs, drives and panels, and decide which data points the controllers will expose.
- Software scoping. DL Minds joins to agree on the tag list, the screens, the reports and any integrations with existing systems.
- Build in parallel. We build and program panels and cells while DL Minds builds the collector and dashboards against a test PLC or simulated data.
- Commissioning. The machines go live first, then the software is connected and checked against real production counts.
- Handover and support. Operators are trained on both the machine and the dashboard, and each team supports its own side.
Running the two streams in parallel means the plant does not wait months after commissioning to see its data.
Who this is for
This combined approach suits:
- Manufacturers in textile, diamond, packaging, pharma and engineering who want to automate a process and measure the result.
- OEM machine builders who want to ship machines with a monitoring app or remote service portal.
- Plants with older equipment that want a retrofit plus visibility, without replacing every machine.
To discuss robots, PLCs, drives or retrofits, contact AB Automation at abautomation.co.in or call +91 90331 37026. For the software side, dashboards, portals or integrations, talk to the DL Minds team through our IT services page or contact us directly.
AB Automation Team (Guest Post)
Digital marketing and web development expert at DL Minds. Passionate about helping businesses grow through innovative technology solutions and strategic digital marketing.