The rule of thumb, when it comes to collaborative robots, is that once you have one, you’ll soon want more. Scaling up with your robots is something that all manufacturers will consider very quickly when they’ve see what cobots have to offer. Now that you’ve see this first hand, it’s time to learn how you can grow your investment and reap the rewards.
Join us as we look at an exciting eBook from Robotiq entitled “Scaling Up From 1 to 10 Robots” which can be found in the eBook marketplace for free. After this summary, you’ll be dying to read more on the subject!
Scaling Your Collaborative Robot Capabilities
It all starts with how you’ll scale your new robots. Do you want to copy/paste robot cells and duplicate tasks that are already being performed on your factory floor? Or, conversely, would you rather create new cells that involve tasks that haven’t been automated before?
Copying a task is easier, but there are greater rewards to be earned for those who expand their robotic potential. It all starts with gathering information. Before you begin scaling, you need to create a future production forecast that allows you to see if the costs will be worthwhile.
Start by calculating the ROI on your first robot cell, and use this to determine the expectations for your additional cells. Next, you should consider the benefits that cobots offer, such as reduced sick days, high employee morale and less injuries.
You should also leverage the knowledge you gained during the implementation of your first cobot. Think about the things that worked well, and what could have gone better. Focus on the things that worked really well to maximize the success of your subsequent robots.
Ask these essential questions when implementing new robots:
● Where are the bottlenecks? – Look for areas where further processes are waiting for prior steps to be completed and mark them on your production line.
● Which bottleneck is causing the most damage? – Consider using a rating system to measure which workstation or machine is slowing down the process, and how bad the damage is to your efficiency.
● Is it possible to solve the bottleneck with a cobot? – Cobots can solve a lot of problems, but even some bottlenecks are beyond them. It’s important to ensure that your next robot can be easily implemented into your manufacturing.
From here, the eBook discusses an automation plan. The steps look like this: