How Robots Cut Costs

Modern industrial robots can help businesses unlock tremendous savings. Recent research suggests the average savings secured by implementation of robots in the industrial workplace is a robust 17.71%. It is expected to grow beyond 21% by 2020.

Key areas of savings include:

Increased Productivity

Productivity gains may be the #1 area where robotics helps most manufacturers. Through effective design and implementation of robotic systems, it becomes possible to extend uptime and minimize downtime. Industrial sites that once ran on an 8 or 12-hour day can easily be extended to 24-hour operation through modest investments. High-quality robotic equipment has a relatively low cost of ownership, so significant ROI is captured quickly.

Streamlined Processes

Robotic equipment offers new opportunities for automation. In environments where components of a precise shape and weight are used, robots can simplify key inspection tasks. Thanks to increasingly precise servos, robots may now manipulate and orient items they could not interact with effectively before. Many robots can collaborate in close quarters with humans, so even operating space is not the constraint it once was.

Greater Workplace Safety

The core concept of industrial robotics is to perform repetitive or dangerous tasks. In robotics’ early history, “repetitive” was the operative word – now, robots are mastering dangerous procedures. When robots are deployed properly, the workplace can be re-engineered for fewer pinch points and other hazards to humans. That, in turn, leads to fewer injuries and reduces time away from work.

ROI Calculator

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Better Process Improvement

Although robots have limited ability to adapt to environmental changes, they are not inert. Equipped with machine vision technologies and wireless Internet, they can capture data other devices, and even human observers, can’t. This offers practitioners of process improvement methodologies unprecedented power to observe process flow from a fresh perspective. That facilitates changes that make plants even more efficient.

High-Level Focus

The full potential of humans and robots can be realized when they work together. When robots are part of the workplace, companies get a chance to focus on a more professional, skilled, strategic workforce. Team members have the opportunity to spend more time on high-level tasks and innovation, while spending less time on manual labor or passively supervising their equipment. That adds value for the employees and the enterprise at large.

Experts wondering how robotics might impact their workplace can check the ROI Robot System Value Calculator to better understand their potential investment.