The global robot-to-human ratio in manufacturing stands at 1 to 71, and industrial companies are projected to invest a quarter of their capital in automation over the next five years. This isn’t just a trend, it’s a revolution.
Choosing the right industrial robots for manufacturing (and the right integration partner to complete the work for you) is crucial for maximizing efficiency and return on investment (ROI). With a wide array of robotic manufacturing technologies, each designed for specific tasks, understanding your unique needs is paramount.
This guide will introduce the diverse world of manufacturing robots, exploring their applications across various processes, from assembly and adhesive dispensing to material handling, packaging, and inspection. We’ll highlight the advantages they offer, the challenges they address, and the key factors to consider when selecting the ideal robot for your operations.
Whether you’re a seasoned manufacturing professional or new to the world of automation, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and insights needed to harness the full potential of robotics in manufacturing. Let’s access the transformative power of robots for your business.
Today’s Manufacturing Sector
The manufacturing industry is huge, diverse, and complex, covering a wide array of processes, each with unique automation needs. Common processes include assembly, adhesive dispensing, material handling, packaging and palletizing, and inspection.
The manufacturing sector is facing a combination of challenges and opportunities. A shrinking workforce, rising labor costs, and the increasing demand for specialized skills have created a labor shortage already impacting production lines. By 2030, this shortage is projected to reach a staggering 2.1 million unfilled jobs, according to Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.
Simultaneously, the cost of manufacturing robots has steadily declined, making them more accessible than ever. This convergence of factors presents a pivotal moment for manufacturers. Embracing robotic automation is no longer just a path to increased efficiency; it’s a strategic imperative for survival and competitiveness.
By integrating robotics in manufacturing, companies can not only fill labor gaps but also empower their existing workforce. Robots excel at repetitive, mundane, and hazardous tasks, freeing up human workers to focus on higher-value activities requiring creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making. This leads to a more engaged, productive, and fulfilled workforce.
Understanding the specific automation needs of each manufacturing process is key to leveraging the full potential of industrial robots in manufacturing. By aligning the right robots with the right processes, manufacturers can access unprecedented levels of efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
The Robot Advantage
Industrial robots have countless functions in manufacturing, but they all serve the same objective: to make manufacturing more efficient and profitable. Integrating industrial robots into your manufacturing processes offers a range of advantages that can revolutionize your operations and drive significant improvements across various key areas.
- Increased Productivity and Production Capacity: Robots operate tirelessly, 24/7, without breaks or fatigue. This translates to a substantial increase in speed of production and production capacity, allowing you to meet growing demands and reduce lead times.
- Improved Quality: With their precision and repeatability, manufacturing robots consistently deliver high-quality products, minimizing defects and inconsistencies. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also reduces costly rework and scrap.
- Enhanced Safety: Robots can take over dangerous and hazardous tasks, protecting your workforce from potential injuries. They can work in harsh environments, handle heavy loads, and perform repetitive motions without risk of strain or fatigue.
- Reduced Costs: While the initial investment in robotics in manufacturing may seem substantial, the long-term cost savings are undeniable. Robots eliminate labor costs associated with wages, benefits, and turnover. They also minimize material waste due to their accuracy and precision.
The benefits of automation are so compelling that 97% of manufacturing leaders report improved product quality, 95% cite increased production speed, and 92% highlight enhanced production capacity as a direct result of integrating robots into their operations.
By addressing human error, a major source of defects in manufacturing, robotics in manufacturing can significantly reduce rework costs. The International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications found that human error accounts for 80% of manufacturing defects. Addressing this issue alone through automation can lead to substantial financial savings.
Matching Robots to Processes
Not all robots are created equal. Each of the different types of manufacturing robots brings a unique set of capabilities to the table, making them ideal for specific tasks and processes. Understanding these is crucial for choosing the right robotic solution that aligns perfectly with your manufacturing needs.
In this section, we’ll explore the ideal automation solutions for various manufacturing processes, guiding you toward the robotics in manufacturing that can maximize efficiency and optimize your operations.
Assembly
The assembly process often demands a combination of precision, flexibility, and adaptability, making automation a valuable tool for enhancing efficiency and quality. Different types of robots excel in specific scenarios within assembly:
Industrial Robots: The Powerhouses of High-Volume Production
Industrial robots are the workhorses of assembly lines, known for their speed, reliability, and consistent product yields. They excel in high-volume production environments where repeatability and accuracy are paramount. These robots can handle heavy payloads and perform complex tasks with exceptional precision, making them ideal for applications like packaging, and palletizing. Their sturdy construction and high-speed operation make them less suitable for collaborative work with humans.
SCARA Robots: The Specialists in Horizontal Assembly
SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) robots are specifically designed for horizontal assembly tasks. Their unique configuration allows for fast and precise movements within a horizontal plane, making them perfect for applications like pick-and-place operations, small parts assembly, and packaging. SCARA robots offer an excellent balance of speed, accuracy, and affordability, making them a popular choice for many industries.
Collaborative Robots (Cobots): The Agile Assistants for Flexible Workflows
Cobots are gaining immense popularity in assembly due to their user-friendly programming, lightweight design, and inherent safety features. However, their main value lies in their flexibility and adaptability, making them perfect for low-volume production or tasks that require frequent adjustments. Cobots can be easily moved and reprogrammed to handle various tasks, allowing manufacturers to quickly adapt to changing production needs. Their ability to work safely alongside humans opens up new possibilities for collaborative work, where humans and robots complement each other’s strengths.
The industry is gradually recognizing the unique value proposition of cobots, realizing that their true potential lies in their flexibility and adaptability rather than competing head-to-head with industrial robots in high-volume production.
Ideal Assembly Automation Options
Collaborative Robots (Cobots)
Designed to work alongside humans, cobots offer adaptability and safety, making them perfect for tasks requiring human-robot interaction. Their flexibility allows for quick reprogramming and redeployment, making them ideal for dynamic assembly lines.
SCARA Robots
Renowned for their speed and accuracy, SCARA robots excel at high-precision assembly tasks like screwing, inserting, and dispensing. Their compact design and large work envelope make them well-suited for assembly applications.
Adhesive Dispensing
Accurate and consistent adhesive application is crucial for product quality and integrity. Even small inconsistencies in dispensing can lead to weak bonds, uneven surfaces, and, ultimately, product failure. In applications such as electronics assembly, medical device manufacturing, and automotive assembly, precise adhesive application is essential for ensuring product functionality and reliability.
Industrial robots equipped with high precision and repeatability can guarantee consistent and accurate adhesive dispensing, eliminating the possibility of human error and ensuring a strong, reliable bond every time.
Ideal Adhesive Dispensing Automation Options
Cartesian Robots for Precise Adhesive Dispensing
Cartesian robots excel at adhesive dispensing due to their precise linear motion. They handle simple 2.5D and complex six-axis applications with equal efficiency, ensuring accurate and consistent adhesive placement..
Six-axis Robots
Their flexibility and wide range of motion allow them to handle complex dispensing patterns and reach difficult areas.
Material Handling
Efficient material handling is essential for maintaining a smooth production flow and optimizing overall production efficiency. It encompasses the movement, storage, retrieval, and control of materials throughout the manufacturing process.
This includes tasks such as loading and unloading raw materials, transporting work-in-progress between workstations, and staging finished goods for packaging and shipping. By automating material handling tasks, manufacturers can significantly reduce manual labor costs, improve safety by minimizing the risk of worker injuries associated with lifting heavy objects, and ensure consistent and timely delivery of materials to production lines.
Ideal Material Handling Automation Options
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs)
AMRs offer flexible and scalable material transport solutions, navigating autonomously and adapting to changing environments.
Robotic Arms or Gantry Robots
These robots are ideal for heavy lifting and precise placement of materials, reducing the risk of worker injuries and ensuring accurate positioning.
Packaging and Palletizing
Packaging and palletizing are repetitive, high-speed tasks that are ideally suited to automation. A study by McKinsey & Company found that palletizing and packaging represent the top use case for industrial automation, with a staggering 83% of manufacturers either planning or already implementing automation in this area. This high adoption rate is a testament to the numerous benefits that automation can deliver in packaging and palletizing operations. Automating these tasks can significantly increase throughput, improve accuracy and consistency, and reduce labor costs.
Ideal Packaging Automation Options
SCARA Robots
These robots are renowned for their speed, accuracy, and horizontal reach, making them perfect for pick-and-place operations involved in packaging. They excel at handling small to medium-sized products and efficiently transferring them between conveyors, boxes, and other packaging materials. Their compact design and ability to operate in confined spaces make them well-suited for packaging lines with limited space.
Delta Robots
Known for their exceptional speed and agility, delta robots are ideal for high-speed pick-and-place applications. They are commonly used for packaging lightweight products, such as food items, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. Their unique parallel arm configuration enables rapid movements and precise placement, ensuring efficient packaging even at high production rates.
Ideal Palletizing Automation Options
Palletizing Robots
These specialized industrial robots are designed to optimize the palletizing process, efficiently stacking and arranging products on pallets. They offer various configurations, including layer palletizers and robotic palletizers, to cater to different product types and pallet patterns. Typically equipped with four axes, these robots prioritize the essential movements for stacking boxes, eliminating the need for additional axes often found in six-axis robots. This design not only makes palletizing robots a more cost-effective solution in terms of initial purchase and ongoing maintenance but also ensures they excel in heavy-duty applications where speed and accuracy are essential.
Six-Axis Robots
While not specifically designed for palletizing, six-axis robots offer versatility and flexibility, making them suitable for palletizing tasks that require complex movements or additional capabilities. They can be programmed to handle diverse product shapes and sizes, and their ability to reach multiple positions makes them ideal for applications that involve case erecting, slip sheet application, depalletizing, or other material handling operations.
Inspection and Quality Control
Maintaining consistent product quality is paramount in manufacturing. Defects not only lead to wasted materials and production time, but also compromise customer satisfaction and brand reputation. Implementing vision-guided robots equipped with advanced vision systems allows manufacturers to achieve unparalleled precision and accuracy in their inspection processes.
These robots can meticulously examine products for even the most subtle flaws, such as dimensional inconsistencies, color variations, or surface imperfections. By integrating vision-guided robots, manufacturers can ensure they consistently deliver high-quality products that meet their customers’ expectations.
Ideal Inspection and Quality Control Automation Options
Vision-Guided Robots
Equipped with advanced vision systems, these robots can accurately inspect products for defects, ensuring high-quality standards.
Cobots
Their collaborative nature allows them to work alongside humans, performing quality checks and inspections in a safe and efficient manner.
Beyond the Basics: Advanced Robotic Technologies
While the robots we’ve discussed offer significant advantages, the world of robotics in manufacturing is constantly evolving. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine vision, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in industrial automation.
- AI-Powered Robots: AI is transforming manufacturing robots into intelligent systems capable of learning, adapting, and making decisions. These robots can analyze data, optimize processes, and even predict maintenance needs, leading to increased efficiency and reduced downtime.
- Machine Vision: By equipping robots with advanced vision systems, they can “see” and interpret their surroundings, enabling them to perform complex tasks like sorting, inspecting, and even picking randomly oriented parts. This technology significantly expands the capabilities of industrial robots in manufacturing.
- Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs): AMRs are revolutionizing material handling by autonomously navigating factory floors, transporting goods, and even collaborating with other robots. Their flexibility and adaptability make them valuable assets in dynamic manufacturing environments.
These advanced technologies aren’t simply incremental improvements. Instead, they represent a paradigm shift in how we approach robotics in manufacturing. They enable robots to take on more complex tasks, operate with greater autonomy, and seamlessly integrate with other systems within the factory. As these technologies continue to mature, they will open new levels of efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness for manufacturers who embrace them.
Choosing the Right Robot: Key Considerations
Selecting the right robot for your specific manufacturing process is a critical decision that can significantly impact your operational efficiency, productivity, and overall success. It’s essential to carefully evaluate various factors to ensure the chosen robot aligns perfectly with your needs and goals. Here are some key considerations to guide you through the selection process:
1. Task Requirements
Understanding the specific weights of materials to be handled, the desired production rate, the environmental conditions the robot will operate in, and your target machine life expectancy will help you narrow down your choices and select a robot that can withstand the rigors of your operations.
2. Return on Investment (ROI
While the many benefits of automation are compelling, it’s the financial impact that truly drives investment decisions. After all, manufacturers need to know that their investment will yield measurable returns. That’s where DEVELOP LLC’s ROI calculators come in, offering a crystal-clear view into the economic potential of your automation journey.
Our free downloadable standard ROI calculator isn’t simply about crunching numbers, it’s about painting a vivid picture of your future. Simply input your current labor costs, production output, and the estimated cost of your chosen automation solution. The calculator then reveals the precise moment when your investment transforms from a cost into pure profit—the moment you achieve a full return on investment. It’s a powerful resource to justify your decision and rally stakeholders around a shared vision of growth.
But what if you’re working with a specific timeframe or budget in mind? That’s where our downloadable Reverse ROI calculator shines. By inputting your desired ROI timeframe and other relevant financial data, the calculator unveils the optimal investment level for your project. It’s like having a financial advisor sitting next to you, guiding you towards the sweet spot where your investment aligns perfectly with your financial goals.
Ready to see the numbers for yourself? Try our ROI calculators today and see for yourself the hidden financial potential of your automation journey.
3. Safety
Prioritize the safety of your workforce with the latest in robotics safety and innovation in the workplace. Ensure that the chosen robot complies with industry safety standards and regulations. Consider features such as collision detection, emergency stop mechanisms, and safety sensors to reduce risks and create a secure working environment.
4. Integration
Evaluate how easily the robot can be integrated into your existing manufacturing systems and processes. Consider factors such as compatibility with your current equipment, software, and communication protocols. A seamless integration will minimize disruptions and ensure a smooth transition to automation.
5. Future Needs
Anticipate your future production requirements and growth plans. Choose a robot that can scale and adapt to your evolving needs. Consider modular systems that allow for easy upgrades or expansions, ensuring that your investment remains relevant and valuable in the long run.
DEVELOP LLC offers comprehensive Automation Assessments and expert guidance to help manufacturers tackle the complex process of selecting the right robot. Our team of experienced engineers can analyze your specific needs, evaluate potential solutions, and recommend the ideal robot that aligns with your budget, goals, and production requirements.
Embrace the Future of Manufacturing with Robotics
The manufacturing industry is at a crossroads. Embracing robotics in manufacturing is no longer a luxury. It’s a necessity for staying competitive, overcoming labor shortages, and achieving new levels of efficiency and productivity. By selecting the right industrial robots in manufacturing settings, you can access a world of possibilities, from increased throughput and improved quality to enhanced safety and reduced costs.
But the journey doesn’t end with choosing a robot. It’s about integrating these powerful tools into your processes, optimizing their performance, and leveraging their full potential. It’s about empowering your workforce, creating a safer work environment, and driving innovation.
Ready to explore the transformative power of manufacturing robots? Take the first step by taking our free Automation Assessment Questionnaire. This free assessment will evaluate your automation readiness, identify potential areas for improvement, and provide valuable insights into the ideal robotic solutions for your specific needs.
Based on the results, we’ll schedule a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your goals and challenges. If automation seems like a viable solution, we’ll then arrange a virtual or on-site assessment to gain a deeper understanding of your operations and develop a tailored automation strategy that aligns with your vision.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your manufacturing processes and propel your business into the future.
About the Author:
Matt Moseman leads as President of DEVELOP, with a strong foundation from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in New Product Management. Moseman’s career highlights include his pivotal role in founding NodeUDesign, innovating in automation hardware, and driving DEVELOP LLC to the forefront of industrial robotics with a focus on enhancing productivity and efficiency.