Five benefits of cobot machine tending

Nowadays machining companies face major challenges. On one hand it’s hard to find qualified employees. On the other hand consumers have higher requirements; real-time availability, higher quality and good work environment. And this all for a lower price. How can machine companies still make profit? The answer: cobot machine tending.

Collaborative robots, also known as cobots, make it possible for machining companies to work in a flexible way and make more spindle hours, without hiring more employees.  These are the five reasons why machining companies remain competitive with cobots:

1. Higher production

With daily repetitive and risk full ergonomic tasks, boredom and injuries are just a matter of time. This type of work is perfect to be done by cobots. The productivity can be significantly increased. The cobot can work next to humans and take-over the monotonous and repetitive tasks. This way human mistakes will be reduced and employees can focus on different, more valuable tasks. It’s also possible to produce at night-time, this way it’s possible to make more spindle hours.

2. More profit

Every company wants to be as profitable as possible. With cobots, machining companies lower production costs and this way increase profit. Because of the high investment in CNC-machines, it is very important that the machines are running. Cobots can be used to automate the steps of machine tending all or partially: put material in the machine, close the door, activate the machine, open the door when the machine is ready and take out the finished product.

Cobots have to be programmed one time per product, process and machine. This leads to higher production and consistent product quality. Also this leads into lower production costs for the customer.

3. Satisfied employees

Most of the time, employees are sceptic in the first place to use cobots. But cobots are not a replacement, they are developed to work next to employees and take over the monotonous and error-prone tasks. Furthermore, cobots reduce the risk for employees to get injured by keeping them away from moving machine parts. The operation by cobots increases employee satisfaction, because they no longer have to tend CNC machines, injection moulding machines or press brakes, for example.

4. Consistent higher quality

As mentioned before, consumers expect a higher quality for a lower price. Cobots are a big part of increasing product quality. There is more consistency in the higher product quality. It’s also possible to look for mistakes and tend complex products.

5. Optimal flexibility

The cobot of Universal Robots is very easy to set-up, light in weight and has a small footprint. This makes them ideal for high mix, low volume production. It’s really easy to move the cobot to a new machine, so you have the flexibility to produce in small batches and to automate frequently line changes. Also, without any program knowledge and the right guidance, it is possible for almost everyone to use and program the Universal Robots

Do you want more information about cobot machine tending or a demonstration in our experience center? Feel free to contact us.