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Cobot technology improves safety and increases job satisfaction

Etalex

In short

Etalex, a Canadian shelving system manufacturer, needed a flexible robotic arm solution that could be used for multiple tasks while taking up little valuable space on the production floor.

One of the tasks is manually unloading a brake press 8 hours a day. Physically demanding work that also has the potential for accidents.

Etalex were looking to shift some of the more dangerous aspects of their production to robots. By using a UR10 to automate high-risk, repetitive tasks, they could boost safety without cumbersome fencing or space-intensive safety measures. Since its introduction, the UR10 has made the workplace much safer.

Etalex

Industry Furniture and Equipment

Country Canada

Number of Employees 100-500

Cobots used UR10

Watch how the UR10 cobot tends the press brake, picking up the parts with pneumatic suction cups and stacking them in a patterned pile

We needed a flexible automation solution that could be used for 10 different production cycles. Since I only have 6 feet of space in front of the brake press, it was important that I could run this application without safety caging around it

Jean Francois Rousseau, Plant Engineer

The solution

Etalex chose a solution based on a UR10. It stands proudly at the start of the immense 300,000 square foot production hall. And, unlike any of the other 25 robots, the UR10 has no protective fencing taking up valuable space.

The UR10 takes pieces out of the brake press using a suction cup and places them in a stack nearby. This repetitive, potentially dangerous work is perfectly suited to the collaborative robot arm.

The manual tasks delegated to the employees have now been reduced to an hour daily spent on inspecting the quality of each pallet and changing the coils. Freeing up valuable time to work on more rewarding tasks. Machine operator at Etalex, Richard Clive, stresses how the UR10 has made the work place much safer:

“Before, you had to put your hands close to the brake press. There’s always a chance of an accident happening at any time. But with the Universal Robots, there is no chance of anyone getting injured.”

Based on a risk assessment, the UR10 collaborative robot has no need for protective fencing and alleviates repetitive, dangerous manual work.

Frees up 7 man hours per day

Plant Engineer with Etalex, Jean Francois Rousseau, was eager to try out this new type of robot:

“We needed a flexible automation solution that could be used for 10 different production cycles. Since I only have 6 feet of space in front of the brake press, it was important that I could run this application without safety caging around it.” Before the arrival of Etalex’ new robot colleague, an employee would manually unload the press brake 8 hours a day. The manual tasks have now been reduced to an hour daily spent on inspecting the quality of each pallet and changing the coils, resulting in an estimated ROI of about 12 months.

The safe choice

Prior to installing the UR10, Etalex got the approval from the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail du Québec (CSST) (Occupational Health and Safety Commission), which approved the use of collaborative robots at the factory. Even though the risk assessment deemed the robot able to run without safety guarding, Jean-Francois Rousseau decided to install a zone sensor that causes the robot to slow down once an unknown object enters its work space:

“This wasn’t strictly necessary but having the robot slow down to 20% is reassuring for employees just getting used to work with robots unguarded.”

Learning by doing

Differentiating the UR robot from its caged peers is also the ease of use. Programming happens on an intuitive touch screen tablet where the user simply presses arrow keys to make the robot move to desired positions. Another option is to put the robot in “teach mode”, a feature that programmer at Etalex, Alex Pichette, has used extensively: “The teach mode allows you to simply grab the robot arm and show it what moves to perform. Instead of having to go back to a keyboard and enter new data, all programming happens right there on the floor next to the robot. That has saved us a lot of time.”

40% increase in sales

Savings is key at Etalex where Director of Operations, Jean Piuze explains that 60% of the company’s cost is the purchase of steel for the metal racks.

“That means that we have to optimize our production significantly to stay competitive and reduce costs. Automating with robots is the only way we can do this,” says Piuze. “As a result, we’ve had a 40% increase in sales which also means that we did not need to lay people off because of automation. They have now been freed up to perform more challenging tasks than simple pick and place routines.”