This collaboration has extensive opportunities for manufacturing efficiencies, innovation and growth — as long as the collaborative process integration is well designed and well implemented. However, the surge in development of these robots has led to a flurry of companies buying them without a well-defined set of objectives or good plan to use the co-bot in their manufacturing processes.
 
According to quotations by Ultra Tech Automation, an inadequate implementation can cost a manufacturer $86,000 per operation per year, based on the cost of a collaborative robot and the cost of un-utilized time or down time by employees. This estimate is based on a $100,000 robot with utilization across a three-shift operation of 2,000 hours per shift per year.
 
Steve LaMarre, Director of Automation Sales, mentioned, 'We see this every day. Our customers truly invest in these robots — to the tune of anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000--and then let them sit on the floor because they don't know how to properly utilize them. Money is just flying out the door.'
 
Growth and Innovation Are at Risk for Manufacturers
 
Manufacturers that are unable to utilize co-bots correctly lose valuable growth opportunities — efficiencies, improvements to the line, enhancements to manufacturing quality and other advantages. They also drop unique opportunities for innovation, which tends to occur 'on the shop floor' in response to actual needs and challenges.
Improper utilization also can limit a manufacturer's ability to make robotic collaboration work on behalf of their own customers, who in some cases ask the purchase of the co-bot to begin with. Even manufacturers with in-house engineering capabilities may finally not be utilizing the co-bots as they should be. Such a situation, for example where the manufacturer and their customer had presumed process efficiencies or enhancements, can influence shared goals and jeopardize the manufacturer's own customer relationships.

This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com