The persistent financial challenges dealing with manufacturing stick with regional inflation, world conflicts, an getting old workforce, disruptions within the provide chain, well being epidemics, and different compounding elements, every enjoying a job. Enterprise homeowners who reassess their technique and think about automation are forward of the curve.
As demonstrated all through the COVID pandemic, companies geared up with automation had been extra resilient to shifts when in comparison with their counterparts. ASME famous that “investing in automation and robotics was a method firms coped with the lack of staff.” Guide jobs like palletizing had been comparatively simple to fill not way back. The abundance of obtainable staff, restricted e-commerce, and lowered product complexity made conducting enterprise with handbook labor attainable.
As we speak, the financial atmosphere is sort of completely totally different: the out there (and ) workforce is diminishing, e-commerce continues to develop and product variety is increasing. These headwinds have created a brand new growth in automation investments, significantly in collaborative robotics. Producers are discovering that cobot palletizers, for instance, are extra accessible, have a smaller footprint, and are extra budget-friendly. This enables them to deal with individuals, productiveness, and flexibility challenges. This text explores how these automated palletizing techniques have gotten very important instruments in industries corresponding to meals & beverage, client items, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Folks: Enhancing workforce dynamics
Automation is doing jobs that folks don’t need.
Automation is doing jobs that folks don’t need.
A frozen fish producer, Korea Pelagic, wanted assist discovering individuals to stack pallets of fish in a freezer. Palletizing fish on very tall pallets is a bodily demanding endeavor within the chilly, making it difficult to search out keen staff. There have been only a few individuals keen to work this repetitive, monotonous, harmful job. Time is important in meals manufacturing, so Korea Pelagic turned to automation to make sure well timed shipments.
A palletizing cobot was the right resolution for this demanding atmosphere. Not solely was the cobot keen to work within the chilly, the consequence was a 200% improve in productiveness and a chance to supply extra rewarding and sustainable work for his or her staff. Learn the entire case research.
Present respect for the workforce.
TIDI Merchandise, a frontrunner in an infection prevention and affected person security merchandise, confronted inefficiencies as a result of a scarcity of staff. One individual did two duties to maintain up with manufacturing calls for. Overburdening an individual slowed down manufacturing, elevated their backlog, decreased morale, and restricted the variety of orders TDI Merchandise might settle for. TIDI invested in end-of-line automated palletizing techniques. This resolution addressed operational bottlenecks, decreased ergonomic points, and elevated group job satisfaction.
The palletizers carried out higher than anticipated, so TIDI Merchandise acquired two extra techniques.
Initially, individuals nervous that robots would take their jobs. Now, individuals anticipate employers to spend money on supporting and serving to their staff. This consists of making automation take the burden of the handbook and repetitive duties they don’t wish to do. If staff don’t just like the job or really feel like their employer shouldn’t be investing in them, they depart. That is extra prevalent in youthful generations who really feel the necessity to swap jobs to care for his or her pursuits.
In accordance with Enterprise Insider, 73% of Gen Z staff are keen to take a pay lower or a decrease place if their job doesn’t meet their wants. Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) is rejecting monotonous, bodily demanding jobs and additional shrinking the out there labor. As this development continues, companies will inevitably must spend money on automation.
Firms should spend money on their staff to extend employee retention. TIDI Merchandise Worth Stream Supervisor Cameron Lemke summarizes: “When you’re in a enterprise that cares about your group, that is a straightforward funding to assist them really feel supported and encourage their longevity with your enterprise.”
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“When you’re in a enterprise that cares about your group, that is a straightforward funding to assist them really feel supported and encourage their longevity with your enterprise.” |
Learn and watch the TIDI Merchandise case research.
Create sustainable jobs (that folks need).
Cascade Espresso, a roasting and co-manufacturing firm, skilled power labor shortages and issues of safety of their handbook palletizing operations. With the deployment of automated palletizing items, job satisfaction and security had been improved. The system’s adaptability allowed for seamless integration, optimizing productiveness and permitting staff to advance. It took 5 minutes to coach an operator on the cobot. Now, the palletizer does the lower-paid job, and the individuals advance within the firm. Watch how Cascade Espresso palletizes 6,500 circumstances a day and grows its staff.
Productiveness: Unleashing operational potential
Each pallet counts.
The target is to forestall unplanned downtime. Though often ignored, the palletization course of can emerge as a bottleneck. In a one-piece-flow atmosphere, the cycle time must lower to match the velocity of the slowest activity. Automation can alleviate this bottleneck and convey cycle time nearer to takt time. Cascade Espresso’s transition from handbook to automated palletizing resolved labor shortages and eradicated bottlenecks.
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“The easy handbook processes had been consuming simply an immense period of time to the place machines would cease as a result of operators truly couldn’t palletize quick sufficient.” – Ron Kane, COO of Cascade Espresso. Watch the full video. |
The cobots guarantee a steady and environment friendly manufacturing move, permitting for the optimization of assets and achievement of supply deadlines.
Automated palletizing will increase throughput.
TIDI Merchandise skilled vital features in productiveness after incorporating automated palletizing items. They documented productiveness features of 30% from the primary palletizing cell. Subsequent cells have elevated by a equally spectacular 25%. Productiveness features permits producers to optimize useful resource utilization, cut back manufacturing prices, and preserve aggressive pricing.
Robotic palletizers additionally improve productiveness in meals manufacturing. Bread producer Antic in Spain confronted difficulties manually palletizing merchandise on two manufacturing traces. The corporate wanted a scalable, automated resolution to accommodate varied product weights and enhance manufacturing velocity. Labor shortages added to the urgency of discovering an efficient decision. Their search led them to a palletizing collaborative robotic that runs two automated traces and elevated manufacturing velocity by 30%.
An automatic system can sustain.
Automated palletizing techniques present excessive effectivity by maintaining with manufacturing processes. Consumer-friendly software program makes it simple to alter the palletizing cobot for brand spanking new field sizes or pallet configurations. For instance, the Robotiq Palletizing Answer robotically generates and optimizes trajectories and cobot actions. Robotiq makes use of assistant instruments and easy configurations. Enter necessities corresponding to:
- Field dimensions, weight, and orientation
- Pallet dimensions
- Pallet configuration
This software program works for the individual as an alternative of the individual working for it. With a couple of minutes of coaching, operators can have the automated palletizer stacking containers.
Adaptability: Assembly market calls for with ease
Be led by buyer necessities and market alternatives, not manufacturing facility limitations.
Regardless of the financial pressures in manufacturing, each firm goals for customer-driven management moderately than being dictated by exterior elements. This implies factories should stay agile and productive.
Napco, a espresso distribution firm, highlights the productiveness features skilled when utilizing palletizing techniques. The lead operator, who had no prior expertise in robotics, was capable of learn to function the system shortly. This automated palletizing system created a 15% improve in productiveness.
Streamlined growth: timing your prices with advantages
The flexibleness and modular design of automated palletizing options allow streamlined growth. With the power to copy and combine extra items onto totally different manufacturing traces, producers can scale successfully in response to fluctuations in demand. TIDI noticed this primary hand. Scalability, mixed with a typical payback interval of 1 yr, ensures a considerable return on funding and positively impacts the underside line.
Automated palletizing techniques with built-in cobots have grow to be indispensable allies for meals & beverage, client items, and pharmaceutical producers dealing with continued financial pressures. These techniques assist them navigate labor-related challenges, improve productiveness, and foster adaptability.
Management your future
At Robotiq, we comply with the ideas of LEAN ROBOTICS to create a standardized resolution that’s simpler to scale, repeatable, and simple to make use of. We perceive the financial pressures in manufacturing and we’ve got expertise working with meals & beverage, client items, and pharmaceutical producers.
Allow us to get you began – implementation is less complicated than you assume. Focus on with certainly one of our automation specialists at present to kickstart your venture.
