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Why Consider a Robot?

To stay in business - let alone grow - every manufacturer has to be competitive with respect to both product quality and costs . Customers require not only high quality, but consistent high quality. The only way to achieve quality consistency is through automation.

Robotic automation is flexible automation rather than the fixed or 'hard' automation of yesteryear. Hard automation makes sense when you produce the same thing 'forever'. But, with the possible exception of fasteners, the days of producing the same thing over an extended period are probably gone forever. Today, product life-cycles are short; a year can be a long time. Even within that one year, there can be minor modifications -- and those modifications needed quickly to maintain market share. Accordingly, manufacturers need capital equipment that can be reprogrammed quickly and easily to meet their customers' demands. Robotic automation also allows you to produce more than one item on a single production line.

ROI and Strategic Goals
Like any other capital investment, investing in a robot should be considered not only for short-term problem-solving, but also as a possible engine for growth -- by making the company more cost-and-quality competitive. (Ask yourself: What new work would a robot enable you to bring into the company?)

The payback calculation will depend on what the robot is being compared to, and the completeness of that comparison. If you are comparing the robot against manual labour, you should consider not just the hourly rate but the total cost of that labour -- including: workers' compensation insurance, costs of vacations and other benefit packages, turnover, and the associated costs of recruiting and training replacement workers. You will also want to consider intangible benefits such as the ability to transfer workers out of dangerous and/or drudge work into more pleasant/meaningful assignments. This translates into (a) reduced injuries and/or sickness and, thus, fewer workers compensation claims and (b) making the workplace more attractive for hard-to-recruit-and-retain skilled workers.

Don't short-change yourself by looking only at potential labour savings. In many cases, the most significant payback has come from process cost-avoidance: Eliminating waste and rework and the space necessary for that rework -- plus possible additional downstream corrective actions. Doing everything right -- the first time and always thereafter-- translates into greater output plus less material-and-time wasted. (Remember: Any scrap going out the back was paid for; it wasn't free.) It will pay for you to recognise opportunities for cost avoidance . For example: With finishing robots, you don't have the same ventilation requirements as for human operators. Also, less paint wasted translates into less material going to an expensive secure waste disposal site.

You will also want to consider the robot as an engine for revenue-enhancement by virtue of its more consistent production: Modern managers recognise they have to look at not only revenue pounds per sq.ft but also revenue per operation-hours. While a robot may not be able to do a specific task (e.g., welding) faster than an operator, it's consistent production - without breaks - translates into greater total production over a shift. Even small businesses have run their robot(s) around-the-clock. Consider how a robot can boost your factory’s revenue.

Selection Criteria
In selecting a robot, you will want to look at: the ''arm'' itself, the control, the vendor, and the end-of-arm tooling. Experience has shown that the best way to avoid ''surprises'' later on is to bring as many perspectives as feasible (including those of future operators) into the selection process.

For the arm itself, you'll want to look at it's work envelope; payload capacity; the number of axes-of-motion, and it's adaptability for future planned work. Present-day arms are robust. Heavy-duty robots in production applications frequently go 50,000 hours between major overhauls. (12.5 man-years for a 2-shift operation; 8.3 man-years for a 3-shift operation.) Some newer models built since 1992 are actually seeing 70,000+ hours between overhauls (corresponding to 17.5 and 11.7 man-years for 2- and 3-shift operations, respectively.) Given the longevity of the arms, upgrading a low-hour used ''arm'' with a new control can be a frugal and sensible ''first buy'' for your operation.

The controls are the robot's ''brains'', and you'll want to consider control capabilities as thoroughly as you'd consider any human worker's capabilities. Your operators will be very concerned with their 'look-and-feel'. Also, just as with people, below-the-surface characteristics will impact costs -- particularly down the road. Taking the long view, you'll want to evaluate capabilities for ease of up-grading, any programming tools for communication with other shop devices, any statistical/reporting programs for shop control and/or ISO-certification, and capabilities for the addition of vision-sensing.

As with any other capital investment, you'll want to check out the vendor's warranty, training and support services.

Finally, there's the end-of-arm tooling - the tooling that adapts your multi-functional robot arm to your specific task(s). The most common forms are grippers of various sizes and shapes for grasping hard objects. These can operate, variously, by electric motors, or by hydraulic or pneumatic power - depending on specifics. Besides grippers, there are vacuum handlers for large flat objects, deburring tools with/without floating heads, and even collet/mandrel types for dowel/hole pick-ups. End-of-arm tooling is available from both robot vendors and independent specialist firms. There is a vast array of standard tools to choose from. If you require something special, consider ordering spares at the same time.

The Installation
A production robot doesn't stand by itself like a statue in a park. At minimum, you have to feed it component parts, fixture the workpieces; remove the completed workpieces, and provide for the operator's safety.-- all in a coordinated workcell. In time, you may also want to include vision-sensing and/or have the workcell automatically generate statistical data for production control and/or ISO-certification. Every task has a ''learning curve''. If your company has experience in engineering automation projects - and you can commit the necessary resources - you may want to engineer your workcell in-house. Otherwise, you can save yourself lots of aggravation, time, and money by selecting a pre-engineered workcell. Pre-engineered workcells (offering you the additional benefit of single-source responsibility) are offered by both robot vendors specialising in the application, and independent system integrators.

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