The industrial robot works and Helen is able to spend time on more value-added tasks. However, she has spent a lot of time and energy on the robot deployment, not to mention that it went far over budget and even lost them a few customer orders. As an added problem, if they want to move the robot to another CNC machine in the future, they have to hire the integrator all over again.
What did Helen do wrong?
She tried to do absolutely everything herself! She didn’t seek help, she assumed she could do it all herself because she’s resourceful and knows how to program (I’ve done this too many times!). She didn’t even consider reaching out to robotics experts, except when it was too late. And it cost her.
The safe, swift, simple way (aka the way of the Jedi)
Robot deployment can be easy, even when you are on a budget. It’s simply a case of reaching out to the right people for a little help before you get started. Then it can turn out like this:
Luis Bennet is a quality testing engineer at electronics manufacturer ZanZern Inc. He is starting to get bored of his job because he is always loading and unloading circuit boards from the quality testing machine and doesn’t have time for more value-added activities.
What Investors Need to Know About Robotics ETFs
He thinks robots could be an option and he does some research into robotic quality testing. He finds his way to a video on the Robotiq website of a collaborative robot being used for quality testing tasks. He investigates further and downloads a copy of our Getting Started with Cobots eBook. When reading through the eBook, Luis realizes that a cobot would not only allow him to move to more interesting tasks, it could also improve the productivity of the quality testing process!
He uses the Blueprints online tool to enter details of his task. This schedules him a free coaching session with a member of the Robotiq team.During the call, he talks to Catherine at Robotiq and describes his situation. She helps to clarify the task and suggests that he could use a UR10 to tend the quality testing machine.
Luis is slightly concerned that this may just a sales call. However, when Catherine dissuades him from adding an extra sensor, saying it is not necessary for his application, Luis is reassured that she is looking after the best interests of his business.
Luis worries that his boss might not be happy about investing in a cobot, even though it is a lot cheaper than an industrial robot would be. However, he uses the eBook How to Get Your Boss to Go With Cobots to prepare a solid pitch and his boss accepts the idea immediately.
When the robot arrives, Luis has a moment of panic when he realizes he will have to integrate the robot himself. However, with the help of Robotiq’s extensive video library, he has the robot up and running in no time.
The robot boosts their productivity almost immediately. It achieves a return on investment after just 6 months.
What did Luis do differently?
He reached out to the right people before doing anything else, saving him time, energy and money.
If you’re on a budget and you want to get the benefit of cobots, which way would you prefer?
Any questions? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or the DoF professional robotics community.
This article has been republished with permission from Robotiq.