Numerous technological developments are occurring in our culture. With the speed of change currently being witnessed, the world will be a very different place in only a couple of decades from what it is now. One of the major developments is automation.
This is becoming a feature in manufacturing, packaging, health and multiple other aspects of our lives. For instance, the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence and robotics industry impacts and transforms different aspects of our way of life.
One of the oldest applications of robots in industries is machine tending. CNC machine tending robots helps improve operations in very many ways. Machine tending robots provide productivity for tasks as diverse as sand casting, injection molding, and assembly of small parts.
Here are some of the technological advancements for robotic machines.
Impact on the Workplace
Robots will work night and day. They don’t need to take breaks, holidays, or medical care. Your robot machines have no disagreements with their supervisors or superiors. They also do not take any personal time to deal with their issues.
Your main objective to embrace new technology is to make all processes safer and more effective, not to replace humans in their jobs. Your employees should build a constructive relationship with automated robotics.
Employment in the automated industries does not decrease, but rather increase. New kinds of jobs are evolving and new skills are needed. It’s real because your robotic machines can’t run on their own. You need human employees to build computer software, maintain and repair equipment. Your employees will make decisions based on data generated by smart technologies.
You should consider robotic machines in your workplace to improve on efficiency and precise productivity. You also should invest in training and educating your employees for a smooth workflow.
Reduce injury risk
For your production process, liability poses one of the greatest hazards, specifically the risk of injury to human workers in hazardous environments. Production sites in the field may be unsafe, volatile, and can expose toxic chemicals or other environmental factors to your employees.
There is a possibility of repetitive stress injuries and occupational accidents even in your managed environments. Like in your warehouses and distribution centers, which poses a great risk to your business.
Machine tending will help you create a safer room for the production floor. The risk of injury is decreased by using a robot instead of a human to feed raw materials to a machine. You can program your robots to slow down when an employee approaches the cell. This will further eliminate the risk of injury to your employees.
Moreover, your staff will be freed from the tedious work of loading and unloading and gives them time to concentrate on more productive tasks. This way, you will have created more value for the organization and encourage workers to further develop their skills.
In potentially hazardous conditions, your robotic machinery operates unimpeded. You can minimize overall expenditures, legal responsibility, and indirect healthcare costs by reducing or eliminating manual labor at industrial worksites.
Improved Productivity
Having machine tending robots in your production industry will increase speed and reduce part cycle time as a result. Typically, if you compare with a human operator it’s only a matter of difference in seconds. But this may prove to be a huge improvement in efficiency as a whole over weeks and months.
Your machine tending robots can work for weeks in a row without stopping. The robot can also run unattended for a few hours after a normal workday. This will provide you more capacity without the need for additional operators.
Multiple Uses
By default, during a machine tending application, the robot simply shifts the material from point A to point B. You need robots for machine tending applications. They will come in handy for other tasks in the factory because of their flexibility.
You need robotic machines for tasks like polishing, sanding, and deburring. They are better done by robots than your human employee.
Robots are typically faster and more consistent. You should invest in multi-functional robotics in your company. This will help you realize financial benefits immediately and in the long run over the life of the robotic systems.
Tend More than one Machine
You can get the right mounting for your robot to be able to mount multiple machines at the same time. If you provide the correct mounting such as rail, floor, or ceiling mounting your robot can tend multiple machines.
If you strategically position the robot between or above two machines, it will load and unload all sections. You can even place the robot inside the machine if the machine is big enough. All these options will help you save space on the factory floor and decrease movements between processes.
Increase Quality
One of the most important advantages that your robotic machinery will provide is a guarantee of reliable efficiency. Throughout a transition, your employees can become exhausted or lose concentration. But robots will consistently follow the same production orders without quality or precision variations.
If you have smarter and more integrated robots, they can monitor the workpieces. This is done through the product cycle to check for errors and adjust their processes to compensate.
Using several different instruments and procedures, CNC machinery and multi-purpose robots may produce products. If you have modern robotic machinery, they can fluidly move from one phase to the next.
This helps your company not to have one robot that follows one unchanging set of directions per task. Your robotics will effectively increase the quality of the product by reducing the rate of defects and delivering reliable results.
Reduce Operation Cost
Your robotic machine tending will reduce the production cost in two ways.
- Per unit efficiency: Robots manufacture products with fewer mistakes in a consistent manner. More detailed robotic setups will fully eliminate any chance of human error. This reduces a production run’s per-unit cost. Much better, machines can more accurately process raw products and workpieces, resulting in less waste and tighter estimates of materials.
- Facility efficiency: Robots minimize the cost of an overall facility’s development. Without incurring the same labor expenses and overhead as human jobs, such as health care, liability insurance, salaries, and other costs, they can work 24/7 without flagging or pausing. Without raising staff size, facilities can improve efficiency, which in turn decreases administrative and HR costs.
Your facility doesn’t need to maintain the same conditions as human-operated facilities. You can switch the lights off and adjust the climate control to meet ideal production standards without catering to human comfort. This way, your facility will have greater energy efficiency.
Conclusion
As you continue to reap the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution, your factory should turn to robotic machinery.
Robotics, while minimizing waste, will make your manufacturing procedures more functional, safer, and more cost-effective. With robots becoming more sophisticated and capable of performing multiple tasks, even your facilities with existing automation technologies may realize numerous benefits.
