Robotic Systems: Helping Small Companies Compete in the Robotics Welding Industry
Purchasing a robotic cell can be advantageous to smaller
companies who may feel that a robotic system is out of their financial
reach. Weighing purchase cost of a robotic cell versus production
increase from the system can help a company determine if robotic
automation is beneficial to them.
- Cost
can be a major issue for smaller companies looking into the purchase of
a robotic cell. A lower-priced cell with a small robot with limited
reach and no integration can be useful for smaller items.
- A more complicated cell can be more than a smaller company can afford, but do your homework in this area also. Some lease packages give you the opportunity to purchase the complete system after the contract ends for as little as $1. This can help even small companies become competitive in the welding industry.
- To determine your payback on the purchase, you'll need to find out what kind of production you'll get from this new system. A formula for weld time can help you figure out the parts per hour you can achieve for the most productive system.
- In most instances, the cell indexes and the robot welds while the operator loads and unloads. This keeps the system busy. If in your system the operator waits while the robot welds, and the robot waits while the operator loads and unloads, add the weld time to the time it takes for the operator to load and unload. Both these times together make your total time for each welded assembly.
- The formula is simple and surprisingly close. First, count the number of welds in your product. If you're welding a lot of circular welds that may be hard to access, count these areas as two welds and each doing half the total weld for that joint.
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