Robotic machine tending is one of the most popular trends today. Industries across different fields are jumping onto this technology in hopes of reaping maximum profits. And some of them do.
Robotic machine tending promises to cut down costs, improve work productivity, and make the workplace a safer place. However, several industries are yet to experience these benefits despite investing in this technology.
Why?
Because of poor implementation. There are several steps that you need to follow when implementing these robots, if they are to work for your industry. Below are the most important steps.
Take a look:
Step 1: Identify the machines that need automation
The number one rule to automation is first to identify the need or problem.
Therefore, before thinking of robotic machine tending, you need to identify the CNC machines or the Injection molding machine that requires automation.
This will help you know how many machine tending robots you need, and whether automation is the best way to address the problem.
If you skip this step, you might end up with a machine that has no use for your workplace.
Step 2: Find the right robot for your Industry
The robotic market today has thousands of robots from different manufacturers, all of which can accomplish machine tending. However, not all these robots can work for your industry.
Depending on the need you identified, you need to find a robot that addresses that problem. Avoid choosing robots that work for your competitors; they may not work for you.
Some factors you should consider include: the size of the robot, it’s speed and precision, it’s flexibility, the accuracy, repeatability, etc.
The robot should also interact with your employees safely and its programming should be easy for the operators to understand.
Step 3: Address the employee-concerns
Like it or not, your employees play a crucial role in ensuring the machine tending robots work efficiently. And naturally, they’ll have several concerns regarding the robot at the workplace.
Concerns about which jobs they’ll take, and how the production will change should be addressed before buying the robot.
Since some of the jobs will be taken, you can encourage the affected workers to enroll in upskilling programs to improve their position in the industry. You should also conduct trainings for the workers and show them the role of the robot in the production.
Moreover, you need to assure the workers that the robot won’t affect their safety at work. If any, it will relieve them from strenuous and dangerous tasks.
If your employees are on board, streamlining the robotic machine tending into your production becomes much easier.
Step 4: Account for the costs
Does your budget allow you to invest in the robot? If not, where will you get the capital to purchase the robots? Answering these questions will help you avoid budget constraints in the future.
You also need to account for the costs that the machine tending robots will incur – From paying the IT operator to the power consumed, the maintenance costs, and the fees for software upgrades.
The ROI of the robot should also be in your accounts. You should have enough capital to run the industry until the robot can repay its cost and bring in profits.
Step 5: Change the Floorplan
Incorporating the machine tending robots in your industries means that you have to change your floorplan to accommodate them.
Plan the changes and ensure that you have enough space for the robot you want.
You might also need to expand your floor space, if you don’t have enough space. All this should be done beforehand to ensure that your operations don’t stall once the robots get to the industry.
Final thoughts
Robotic machine tending is one of the best ways to improve the productivity of an industry. But it has to be installed properly. The steps above should help you install the robot easily and have your operations in no time.
Do it right, and your industries will enjoy the benefits of robotic machine tending!
