In its biggest production site, in Suwałki, Poland, the company implemented the UR5 collaborative robot which daily automates the process of machining heating elements designed for aquariums. The use of a cobot shortened production time and moved employees to different manufacturing areas. The UR5’s return on investment is estimated at 16-18 months with the company planning further implementations of UR’s collaborative robots.
AQUAEL operates in two production plants in the Polish towns of Warsaw and Suwałki. The plant in Suwałki employs around 450 people and it is the biggest production facility in this segment in Poland and one of the biggest in Europe.
A challenge to further development of the enterprise is the current situation on the labor market, facing increasing labor costs and difficulties in finding employees. “We needed a more effective production, which means that we need to produce more with the same costs,” says Arkadiusz Soroka, Director of AQUAEL plant. “We also wanted to automate strenuous and monotonous processes in order to be able to move employees to different areas and become a more attractive employer.”