Idle equipment is costing you revenue and profits. Manufacturing positions are tough to fill and retain, whether it’s welders, machine loaders, assemblers or material handlers. But cobots are always on the job, keeping machine utilization and productivity high. Collaborative automation can run around the clock, consistently and reliably, making it ideal for applications ranging from machine tending, welding, palletizing, screwdriving, surface finishing and more. Keep your equipment running, and move your skilled manufacturing staff into higher value and more rewarding positions – a true win / win.
From tiny ball bearings to large truck bodies, the Metals & Machining sector is adopting cobots at a rapid pace. Find your product here and see how cobots meet the complex application requirements of this diverse industry:
Your business is all about uptime. Idle equipment means money and opportunity lost, but repetitive machine loading jobs can be especially hard to staff and retain. Cobots excel at loading and unloading CNC machine tools, assembly dial tables, press brakes, and other process machines around the clock. When UR cobots handle machine tending, productivity increases and ergonomics improve, enabling operators to take on higher value assignments.
Die-casting manufacturer RCM Industries found itself in competition with lower-wage countries for a large outsourced project. The company successfully won the job after deploying Universal Robots’ UR10 cobots in two identical cells where they each tend two dual-spindle CNC lathes in the same cycle, manufacturing a consumer plumbing product. Operators simply load parts on a table and the cobots move them from station to station, picking up a raw part, putting it in a pre-fixture to align it correctly, placing it on the first chuck then the second chuck, and finally dropping the completed part onto a conveyor belt to return to the operator.
"We’re always asking, ‘Can it be automated, and what is that investment, and does it make sense?’ And we’re finding in more cases than not, it makes sense"
Mike Higgins, sales and marketing director, RCM Industries
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The UR Marketplace is loaded with ready-made solutions for common applications in the Metals & Machining segments Whether you go for a 100% turnkey solution, or an application kit solution, you will have UR cobots up and running production in a fraction of the time of traditional automation. And because UR Marketplace solutions and kits are pre-engineered by our partners, cost and time to deploy are under strict control.
Ready-to-weld solutions are available from UR Marketplace partners throughout the world and are typically based on the UR10e or UR20 cobots. Systems are available for MIG, MAG, TIG, spot, and laser processes, incorporating industry leading brands of welding equipment. Each solution includes integrated software that provides control of all weld parameters and can be mastered by a competent welder with no prior robotics experience in an hour or less.
Universal Robots has deployed over 75,000 cobots into every manufacturing industry. Companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500 giants to local contract machine shops, are leveraging our 6th generation cobots to increase productivity and quality and improve job satisfaction for their manufacturing teams.
UR cobots meet the demands for flexibility head-on with industry-leading ease-of-use, intuitive programming, and a powerful back-end for OEMs and developers to add value and meet specific needs. UR cobot-based systems generate ROI that is usually measured in months, not years.
Universal Robots has developed the most complete set of safety tools and functions in the industry. Our 17 safety protocols can be configured to meet the varied safety requirements of your plant or facilities and your application risk assessment, letting your manufacturing team work safely side-by-side with UR cobots.
Want to know more about collaborative robots in the Metals & Machining industry?