Used Robots and the Economy

The Robot­ic Indus­tries Asso­ci­a­tion (RIA) recent­ly inter­viewed Robots​.com Pres­i­dent, Kei­th Wanner:

RIA: How is the econ­o­my effect­ing the refur­bished robot mar­ket?

KW: This is a good time to be in the refur­bished robot mar­ket. There are a lot of robots avail­able from com­pa­nies that are down­siz­ing — new­er mod­els with few­er hours.

At the same time, a lot of com­pa­nies are look­ing for ways to main­tain the robots they have. We’ve seen an increased need for parts and replace­ments of exist­ing mod­els. In addi­tion, the econ­o­my is def­i­nite­ly effect­ing the way com­pa­nies look at their work­force. Com­pa­nies are con­cerned that they might not be able to keep their skilled labor­ers. Many com­pa­nies are look­ing to refur­bished robots as a way to auto­mate while still con­serv­ing cap­i­tal.

RIA: Has the robot cus­tomer changed because of the econ­o­my?

KW: Yes. We’ve had a lot of new cus­tomers who are automat­ing for the first time. Many of these cus­tomers were wait­ing to auto­mate because they did­n’t have an incen­tive and they felt they could main­tain skilled labor. I think it’s telling that these first time buy­ers are not nec­es­sar­i­ly small com­pa­nies. The econ­o­my is mak­ing it so large com­pa­nies are con­sid­er­ing automat­ing more, with less of a work­force. We use the Inter­net to make sure these cus­tomers have the infor­ma­tion they need to explore automa­tion.

RIA: Tell us about the mar­ket­ing strate­gies your com­pa­ny is using to reach cus­tomers.

KW: Know­ing that com­pa­nies are strug­gling with the cur­rent econ­o­my, and that there is an inter­est in robots, Robots​.com is doing a few things to make it eas­i­er to auto­mate. We’re try­ing to put our­selves in their shoes, ​“If I was going to do buy a robot right now, what would inter­est me?“

We start­ed by offer­ing the sim­ple thing of free ship­ping. This way we take care of all the logis­tics. For first-time cus­tomers the details of set­ting up robot ship­ping can seem over­whelm­ing. This way, every­thing is han­dled for them.

Robots​.com has also extend­ed a No Mon­ey Down guar­an­tee on all robot sys­tems. This way, cus­tomers don’t have to pay a cent until they are com­plete­ly sat­is­fied with the fin­ished prod­uct. We try to make cus­tomers aware of financ­ing and leas­ing options. Instead of putting down a lot of cap­i­tal, com­pa­nies can take advan­tage of leas­ing and pay in small install­ments.

RIA: What kind of advice can you give to oth­ers in the robot­ics indus­try?

KW: Com­pa­nies are always going to want to auto­mate, but the robot­ics indus­try needs to make it eas­i­er for them to make this deci­sion. Any­thing we can do to min­i­mize risk, the bet­ter. Maybe the man­u­fac­tur­ing mar­ket has slowed down, but the need for robots is always going to be there.

In addi­tion, now is a good time for those in the robot indus­try to make con­tact with exist­ing cus­tomers. Take this oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­cuss their needs and inter­est them in upgrad­ing their sys­tems with new fea­tures and safe­ty.

If the new stim­u­lus bill does give incen­tives, be pre­pared to cater to cus­tomers that might only buy one robot in their life­time. Pro­vide as much infor­ma­tion on your web­site for cus­tomers — to make it eas­i­er for them to make a deci­sion. Those who haven’t auto­mat­ed before will want more infor­ma­tion.

Above all, stay flex­i­ble. Be open to things like rein­te­grat­ing exist­ing cells. Robots​.com recent­ly helped a com­pa­ny that need­ed to change their robot sys­tem to fit a new job. We were able to use the cus­tomer’s exist­ing robot, add upgrades and rein­te­grate a whole new work­cell. It saved them a great deal of mon­ey and has­sle.

RIA: What do you think the future holds for the robot­ics indus­try?

KW: Start­ing with the new stim­u­lus bill, there’s going to be incen­tives for com­pa­nies to keep pro­duc­tion in the Unit­ed States. I think there will be a trend to buy Amer­i­can prod­ucts in order to keep jobs in the Unit­ed States. In order to make that hap­pen, U.S. prod­ucts will have to be cost effec­tive on a glob­al basis. The only way to do that is to auto­mate.

I think we’re also going to see an increase in the need for robots in all sec­tors. As much as 90% of man­u­fac­tur­ers haven’t auto­mat­ed because they’re small busi­ness­es. Robot automa­tion is going to find its way into new indus­tries. Clean ener­gy is one of the major areas of growth. That’s a whole new indus­try that will require robots to keep costs low. 

If you are inter­est­ed in buy­ing a used indus­tri­al robot, Robots​.com experts are ready to help! They can be reached online or at 740−241−4312.