The Role of Automation and Robotics in the automotive industry: Today’s industrial robots work in various industries, from the semiconductor and automotive industries to plastics processing and metal forging. Virtually any repetitive operation is an excellent job for a robot, especially if it’s dangerous or difficult for humans. Robots were used for high-volume trading, but as technology advances and costs decrease, more options and opportunities open up, even for small and medium-sized trades. At the same time, these robots help manufacturers overcome many of the critical challenges they face, including limited labor, global market competitiveness, and safety.
Auto manufacturing robots give automotive companies a competitive edge.
Because robotics improves quality and lowers warranty costs; increases capacity and eliminates bottlenecks; and protects workers from dirty, complex, and dangerous jobs. Auto assembly plants typically use robots solely for spot welding and painting, but there are other ways to use robots throughout the supply chain. Using robotics benefits OEMs, Tier 1 companies, and all other parts manufacturers in the automotive industry.
Manufacturers typically turn to robots for some reason. The three most important drivers in the automotive industry are quality, performance and safety.
Autoplant robots reduce part-to-part variability. Robots perform highly repeatable processes and never get tired or distracted like human work, so each cycle is completed similarly. They don’t drop or handle parts in a way that causes damage. This reduces scrap caused by human error, resulting in less variability in vehicle assembly. In addition, the robots are equipped with vision systems and can even detect anomalies in the incoming material and adjust their programmed routes accordingly. Naturally, this translates into higher customer satisfaction, fewer errors, and lower warranty costs.
On an auto assembly line, robots protect workers from welding and paint fumes and welding flash and noise from punch presses. For manufacturers, automotive robotics reduces accidents and claims by freeing workers from these dirty and dangerous jobs and environments.
Advantages of industrial robots
- Better Quality and Consistency – Along with other technologies like the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or 3D printing robots, industrial robots can offer better production quality and more accurate and reliable processes. Benefits include reduced cycle times and real-time monitoring to improve preventative maintenance procedures.
- Maximum productivity and performance: An industrial robot increases the speed of manufacturing processes, including through 24/7 operation. Unlike humans, robots do not need breaks or shift changes. Ultimately, the speed and reliability of the robots reduce cycle time and maximize throughput.
- Increased Safety – Using robots for repetitive tasks means less risk of injury for workers, primarily when manufacturing occurs in harsh conditions. No human presence is required on-site, as supervisors can monitor the process online or remotely.
- Less investment in labor costs: The cost of one person doing many manufacturing operations is often higher than a robot’s. Using robots instead of human resources can free employees to use their skills and expertise in other areas, such as engineering, programming, and maintenance.
- Keep manufacturing open for jobs: There’s an argument that robots are taking jobs away from American workers, but that’s not necessarily true. US industrial robots are typically integrated into a series of operations requiring human expertise. For example, you could implement a robot to weld parts that are hand off to a human to perform a task requiring intuitive human “if-then” thinking.
There are also certain disadvantages of industrial robots.
- High initial investment: Robots usually require a significant initial investment. When gathering information about your company to purchase robots, you must consider all costs, including installation and configuration. You need to consider whether your robot can easily be adapt if you need to change operations in the future.
- Limited Experience: Industrial robots require sophisticated operation, maintenance, and programming. Although the number of trainees is growing, it is still not sufficient. With that in mind, it’s essential to focus on the investment you need to make to bring in that expertise or to “retool” your existing staff to take on the task.
- Recurring Costs: Industrial robots can reduce some labor costs in manufacturing, but they come with their running costs, such as B. maintenance connected. It would also help to consider the cost of protecting your robot and all associated IIoT-connected devices from cyber threats.
Robots are most commonly use in the following areas of automotive manufacturing:
- collaborative robots
- robot painting
- robot welding
- robot assembly
- Removal of Materials
- Parts transfer and machine maintenance
Finally, we would like to mention that robots and artificial intelligence have been use in the automotive industry for quite some time. Today they are use in many different areas of automotive manufacturing, but the scope of robotics in the automotive industry is growing by leaps and bounds.
Read More: Robots: Definition, History, Uses, Types, and Facts