In our competitive global environment, thorough robotic system justification is a necessity for all of us. Considering all the factors that contribute to a complete system justification is crucial.

We've compiled the list of typical robotic system justification factors for you to use and review on your robot project.

Labor Reduction - this is the primary factor most companies consider.

• What you need to find out is:
  • Total number of operators involved
  • Total number of shifts involved
  • Total cost of labor including wages, benefits, insurance, etc.
• Find out if there are additional factors such as process training or personnel equipment (gowns, etc.).

Labor Reallocation

• In low unemployment economies, companies have a difficult time staffing facilities.
• Robotic automation allows employees to be reallocated to positions requiring more human involvement.
• Allows for higher worker satisfaction through the automation of dull, dirty and dangerous applications.

Quality Improvement

• Robotic system can have a significant positive improvement on quality factors
  • Elimination of operator errors like dropped product, miss-loaded product, miss-processed product
  • Elimination of returned product or back changes due to operator placing incorrect product in shipment
  • Ability to incorporate post-process gauging
  • Consistency in process

Throughput/Yield Improvement

• Optimization of process applications results in lower cycle times.
• Throughput will not vary as much as manual labor (operators get tired or step away from their machines).

Injury Avoidance/Safety

• Robotic systems allow operators to be removed from hazardous or unsafe environments.
• Operators can be removed from applications that require handling of heavy parts or large objects.
• Some customer will have documented workman's compensation claim costs or fines due to work injury.

Process Controls/Consistency

• Improves part quality and can also improve part yields.
• All parts are produced the same regardless of operator, shift changes, etc.

Equipment Utilization Improvement

• Improvement of equipment utilization not only improves yield but allows customers to maximize the use of their capital assets.

Predictable Production

• Consistency in automation makes it easier to forecast product capacity regardless of the labor market.

Flexibility

• Robotics allows manufacturers to quickly respond to market demands.
• The flexibility of robotics offers more options for post-process work when compared to hard/dedicated automation solutions.

Material Savings

• Robotic systems will typically reduce the amount of material/consumables being used and the savings generated should be factored into cost justification calculations:
  • arc welding = less wire & gas
  • polishing/grinding = longer belt/wheel life
  • painting = less paint
  • machining = longer tool life

Reliability/Downtime Reduction

• The high reliability of URC systems utilizing Motoman or FANUC products offers many benefits to customers:
  • higher uptime = more production
  • reduced downtime = lower maintenance costs
  • reduced downtime = more production