Increasing output by 50% without adding floor space sounds unrealistic for most manufacturers.
That was the exact objective inside the production facility of Beyerdynamic, a German manufacturer of professional audio equipment and headphones. Leadership set a four-year plan: raise factory productivity by 50% while maintaining the same footprint and protecting strict quality standards.
No new building.
No compromise on acoustic precision.
No workforce reduction.
Here’s how collaborative robot automation made it possible.
The bottleneck was a glue spraying application used to refine headphone loudspeakers acoustically.
Previously, skilled operators manually applied a medium directly onto the speaker membrane using a brush. While precise, the process introduced:
Manual processes often become the limiting factor when manufacturers aim to scale production in constrained environments.
The team identified two automation opportunities:
Collaborative robots quickly became the preferred solution due to their flexibility, compact footprint, and ease of integration.
The company selected two UR5 collaborative robots from Universal Robots to build a synchronized robot cell.
To solve part handling challenges, they integrated:
One universal challenge in manufacturing is part position variance. Components rarely arrive in exactly the same orientation.
In this case:
Engineers did not need to manually calculate coordinates. Instead, they physically guided the robot to teach positions. The plug-and-play integration reduced programming time and simplified deployment.
This combination of collaborative robots, robot grippers, and integrated vision enabled reliable picking of non-uniformly positioned parts — a common barrier to automation adoption.
Once the first robot placed the loudspeaker onto a fixture, the second UR5 began the spraying process.
The automated sequence included:
The result was a fully synchronized robot cell performing handling, spraying, and staging operations.
Initial integration required refinement, particularly around spray precision and multi-robot timing. However, continuous optimization significantly improved cycle times.
Production officially began in July.
With the same three employees assigned to the station, the company achieved:
Consistent robotic spraying eliminated fluctuations inherent in manual brushing. Output delivery times improved while maintaining strict quality standards.
Importantly, the factory footprint remained unchanged.
For manufacturers searching for ways to increase production without expanding facilities, this case demonstrates how collaborative robot automation can unlock hidden capacity.
Successful automation is not only technical; it is cultural.
Leadership prioritized communication early in the project. Employees were invited to participate in the pilot program to reduce fear and encourage collaboration.
Operators were trained to:
Instead of performing repetitive glue application, skilled workers shifted toward higher-value tasks where human expertise adds greater impact.
This approach reflects a broader manufacturing trend: automation reallocates human talent rather than replacing it.
This case highlights several critical lessons for manufacturers evaluating factory automation:
For manufacturers facing space constraints, quality demands, and pressure to increase throughput, collaborative robot cells provide a practical, scalable path forward.
The transformation inside Beyerdynamic shows that significant productivity gains are possible — even within the same walls.