Should Your Company Invest in Cobots?

Answer These 4 Questions

Robotic automation has existed for many decades, with larger manufacturing companies incorporating industrial robots into their workplaces. Smaller collaborative robots, or cobots, have emerged to assist workers with menial, time-consuming and risky tasks — allowing their human collaborators to complete more vital responsibilities.

This lightweight, innovative technology can safely and cost-effectively enhance a company’s productivity through seamless collaboration with a human partner. Would your company benefit by investing in cobots? Answering these questions may provide insights for an informed decision.

1. How Would a Cobot Suit My Company’s Industry Sector?

Organizations use cobots for various tasks. Whether your company is in one of the following industry examples or another, you might consider using cobots to improve your employees’ productivity and fulfill responsibilities that increase accuracy and efficiency.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry uses cobots extensively in several sectors. On automotive assembly lines, they assist human workers with assembling parts, welding, dispensing and quality control. Electronics manufacturing involves handling and soldering delicate components and fulfilling precise assembly tasks. Cobot uses in metal fabrication include tending machines, die casting, welding and press breaks.

A cobot can be a game-changer for SMEs, taking up to 80% of repetitive tasks off its human operator’s hands. For example, a cobot has been shown to decrease a 12-hour sanding job to just 3.5 hours, freeing workers to handle other project tasks. You’ll often see the technology in manufacturing scenarios, so answer questions on how and where you could utilize a cobot in your company.

Warehousing and Distribution

Warehouse and distribution center managers value cobots for their ability to sort, pick and pack stored goods. The cobots’ presence in storage facilities improves operational efficiency, as these robotic collaborators never tire from physical work. In distribution centers, programmers often set up cobots to perform quality control checks before releasing items.

A cobot’s sensory awareness, self-navigation ability and inter-automation communication make it invaluable on warehouse and distribution floors. It’s more easily scalable than a conveyor belt and can independently work alongside human employees with minimal injury risks. With 2D, 2.5D and 3D vision, a cobot identifies and picks any item more efficiently than its human counterpart. Would you find a cobot invaluable on your warehouse floor? Your specific needs mean only you can answer that question.

Healthcare

Cobots’ accuracy has made them essential in the healthcare industry, especially in complex surgeries. Their preciseness in movement and cutting is beneficial in laparoscopic surgeries, while the repeated accuracy needed for bone drilling and cutting during orthopedic procedures makes it invaluable. Incorporating cobot use in these and other detailed surgical procedures produces better outcomes and quicker patient recoveries.

Cobots are also active in the nursing sector. Automated assistants like Moxi robots perform menial nursing tasks, allowing caregivers more time to attend to patients. The cobots carry out tasks like drawing blood, delivering lab samples and providing medication. They’re easily programmable to navigate hospital corridors. Ask yourself if you could use a cobot somewhere within your medical institution.

The above are only three examples of industries where cobots find everyday use. With many available applications and designs, cobots are used in widespread industrial and commercial sectors. Could you envision your company using a cobot to cater to your specific needs on the factory floor, in a loading zone or in a medical emergency room?

2. Are My Employees Equipped to Control Cobots?

Cobot designs include user-friendly programming to perform basic actions within company workspaces. Do you see your current workforce inputting the necessary data to a tablet or laptop attached to the cobot to map its travel path or action its instructions? You’ll need this programming talent to provide rules for handling boxes, loading machinery or delivering medication.

Otherwise, to adequately equip your employees, you could send them on a hands-on cobot training course that teaches the required skills, regardless of their technological understanding or working background. Is there a training center near you?

3. Would My Company Need Upgrades to Operate Cobots?

Consider your existing workspace layout and whether you have defined workstations that can function as cobot-operated zones. Should human and cobot areas be separated? Depending on the nature of your business and the expected necessary interaction between humans and robotics, you must plan to minimize any undue risks.

A comprehensive risk assessment helps to plan impending cobot deployment, noting ISO/TS 15066:2016 safety standards as guidelines for any necessary changes. You can add safety features to the cobot’s programming — maximum speeds, guidance sensors and presence sensors will all reduce accident risks. Whether your current workspace needs adapting depends on the answers you glean from your assessment and the safety standards.

With so many types available, ask and answer specific questions about your expectations of the cobot. What kind of end-of-arm tooling do you need? Do you need grippers? Also, consider your current computer hardware and whether it’ll suit cobot programming. While innovative options like phones that expand into tablets exist, they likely won’t suffice as a user-friendly programming interface — essential for cobot programmers. So, should you use a teach pendant or a graphical user interface (GUI)?

• Teach pendants are hand-held, with the operator manually guiding the cobot’s movements, which the cobot records and remembers for use thereafter. They’re ergonomic, with displays and responsive controllers, so the cobot loses no information during the programming process.
• GUIs have drag-and-drop functions and visual programming for novice users. Simulation software means operators can virtually test and change cobot tasks before locking them for deployment.

You’ll know how adept your chosen operators are, so ask yourself which user interface suits them best.

4. Does Implementing Cobot Use Have Risks?

Everything comes with a risk factor attached. The degree of risk is the most relevant consideration point before investing in cobot technology. Every piece of mechanical or robotic equipment only operates as well as its operator and programmer do their job, so your risk assessment should provide you with answers.

Are my programmers up to the task? Will my operators handle the cobot as well as they work their lathes?

Is Cobot Investment Viable?

Asking and answering essential questions, including how implementing cobots will suit your company budget, clarifies your final decision. With exhaustive research and planning, you’ll find out what you need to do to prepare for the introduction of cobots and whether this technological advancement is viable in your company environment.