Lean Manufacturing with Robotic Workcells

A robot work­cell should be designed in a way that improves effi­cien­cy, reduces cost and improves part qual­i­ty for the giv­en robot­ic appli­ca­tion. Pre-engi­neered work­cells are designed on the prin­ci­ples of lean man­u­fac­tur­ing to improve appli­ca­tion flow and elim­i­nate waste dur­ing the process. As defined by asq​.org, Lean Man­u­fac­tur­ing is ​“a set of man­age­ment prac­tices to improve effi­cien­cy and effec­tive­ness by elim­i­nat­ing waste. The core prin­ci­ple of lean is to reduce and elim­i­nate non-val­ue adding activ­i­ties and waste”. 

Work­cells are not just safe­ty bar­ri­ers, though that is a key com­po­nent, but they also allow mul­ti-task­ing. While a robot works on one side of the posi­tion­er, you can safe­ly load and unload a part on the oth­er side. This elim­i­nates extra steps every time a part pass­es through this station. 

Robot­ic work­cells that are well designed into pro­duc­tion flow are more effi­cient through their flex­i­bil­i­ty. Robots can be pro­grammed to do mul­ti­ple func­tions. Sev­er­al robots can weld one piece or mul­ti­ple pieces simul­ta­ne­ous­ly, improv­ing pro­duc­tion through­put and robot uptime opti­miza­tion. One robot can load a part onto a fix­ture while anoth­er cuts or drills the piece, prepar­ing it for the next oper­a­tion in the process. These robots can work togeth­er, per­form­ing var­i­ous tasks that save time and cost for the manufacturer. 

Lean man­u­fac­tur­ing is also accom­plished by reduc­ing waste with robot­ic accu­ra­cy and con­sis­ten­cy. Through prop­er lay­out and design, work­cells can help max­i­mize the use of floor space. It is impor­tant to choose the right robot­ic work­cell for your appli­ca­tion and part type. There are plen­ty of options avail­able with dif­fer­ent types of posi­tion­ers to choose from. Time is mon­ey and hav­ing a high­ly effi­cient work­cell can max­i­mize throughput. 

Using an expe­ri­enced robot­ic inte­gra­tor, such as Robots​.com, can help max­i­mize your invest­ment, by design­ing a sys­tem that meets your exact needs. We have over 28 years of expe­ri­ence inte­grat­ing new and recon­di­tioned robots and robot­ic work­cells. Robots​.com can design a work­cell to improve the effi­cien­cy of your man­u­fac­tur­ing process, to save time and oper­at­ing costs, while min­i­miz­ing waste. 

Con­tact us here, or call 877−762−6881 for more infor­ma­tion on how Robots​.com can help with design and imple­men­ta­tion of a work­cell that fits your needs.