Even if you are part of management yourself, you will need to justify the integration of the robot with solid arguments.
Points are not only scored on the financial side of the argument: it’s also about what can be accomplished with the robot, as well as how fast it can be refunded.
Here are a couple of points to help you justify a collaborative robot at your next meeting:
Throughput: Will you be faster? Not necessarily. Will you be more consistent, YES!
ROI: In our experience, most collaborative cells are refunded within 8 months.
Having a list of all the potential applications for the cobots will also reduce the risk for management to invest in this first robot. To the contrary, dedicated machines that can only be used at one station, do not allow for the flexibility of testing potential applications. Cobots, however, can usually be repurposed if the need evolves in time in the plant or if your production requirements change.
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