Cobots increase production by 123% while reducing costs and worker fatigue
In short
IPTec, a manufacturer of ignition transformers, has deployed two UR3 cobots in picking up and moving ignition transformers for soldering, inspection and marking. After the introduction of the UR3 cobot, the company was able to reduce the fatigue of production workers by replacing repetitive tasks. As a result, daily production increased by 123% and manufacturing costs decreased by 8%. Defects related to product supply achieved a figure close to 0%.
The business transformation
The company wanted to automate manual operations such as picking and placing ignition transformers on worktables as this manual repetitive task brought frequent mistakes and fatigue of operators. IPTec needed to improve the on-site working environment for its production workers while at the same time increase productivity and reduce manufacturing costs through a robust, yet flexible automation solution.
IPTec
Shin Jeong-eok, Vice President, IPTecWith the introduction of the UR cobot, simple repetitive tasks performed by workers could be automated, which reduced manufacturing costs and increased productivity at the same time
Balancing priorities
“Our top priorities when selecting a solution were the possibility of collaboration between workers on the shop floor, safety and flexibility,” says Shin Jeong-eok, Vice President of IPTec, about the company’s decision to deploy a UR3 cobot.
Director at IPTec, Jung-Ouak Shin, says that the company reviewed many comparable cobots: “In the end, we selected Universal Robots for its strong brand awareness, excellence in performance and versatile applications.”
Smooth operators
Workers can now prepare for production, maintain and manage the UR3 cobots, that now smoothly performs the pick and place tasks, freeing up workers from simple repetitive tasks.
The UR3 model was chosen due to its 3kg payload, which was sufficient to handle the ignition transformers, that weigh less than 1kg. The install was carried out with the help of HRT, one of the major distributors of Universal Robots in Korea. Moreover, IPTec could minimize the initial investment cost through a government-supported project hosted by Daegu City and Daegu Machinery & Components Research Institute.
Increased production
The UR3 deployment enabled the company to increase the production quantity from only 300pcs per hour to 720pcs per hour, a 140% increase over the previous year. Overall, daily production was increased by approximately 123% and manufacturing cost was reduced by approximately 8% while the defect rate was essentially eliminated to about 0%.
Automation challenges solved:
Improvement of operator’s working environment Reduce manufacturing cost and increase production
Key value drivers:
Safe collaboration with workers High efficiency for investment
Tasks solved by collaborative robots:
Pick and place of ignition transformers
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