Elite - trade-in: the old injection molding factory has gold

Taiwan injection molding factory introduced 4 EC66 collaborative robots into the production line, mainly responsible for the loading and unloading of injection molding machines. Not only does the single-station shift to automation, but it also solves the labor shortage caused by noise, poor working environment and other factors in the factory, and reduces the potential safety hazards of the factory.

01 Background

This Taiwan medium-sized company is a full-process injection molding manufacturer that provides one-stop manufacturing. Over the past 8 years, we have been focusing on the research and development and optimization of injection molding technology. We are committed to providing high-quality products for the end users of mainstream fitness equipment brands in Europe and the United States. After years of development, customers feel the pressure of production line automation. On the one hand, they want to continue to achieve their goals of consistent quality and mass production expansion. On the other hand, the flexibility of the production line and the demand for a small number of diverse customizations put forward higher requirements for factory automation and flexibility.

02 pain points

In recent years, customers have successively introduced large-scale production automation equipment into their production lines. There is also some long-term equipment in the factory that is still in use. The mix of old and new equipment makes space in the production line very tight. Industrial automation equipment generates a lot of noise when it is running. Operators not only endure loud noises as they move through equipment, but they can also encounter safety hazards. For example, due to the harsh working environment and the boring and repetitive work content, the company was unable to recruit the right people to take care of the injection molding machine. Especially when there is a periodic surge in orders, workers will quit due to the huge pressure of work, causing a severe labor shortage in the factory. As a result, it is difficult for companies to cope with such a highly elastic production demand due to the increase in production. This has also become the motivation for them to constantly seek automation solutions.

The conventional XYZ horizontal axis robot is used for loading and unloading injection molding. However, customers cannot use this traditional solution in the field. In addition to limited space and safety considerations, another important reason for human-computer interaction is that the robot has complex movements when reclaiming: the robot needs to maintain a certain posture to reach a certain angle during the operation. After that, the robot has to cut the feed head further. Cartesian coordinate robots can't do that. As a result, customers turn to other solutions.

03 Solution

The customer learned through the ELITE Robot Taiwan distributor that the 6-joint cobot can solve the above pain points. According to the plan, a cobot arm with a load capacity of 6 kg was chosen, which could be arranged on one side of the injection molding machine without the need to install a safety fence. The single joint of the ELITE Robot cobot supports ± 360° rotation. During the reclaim, the preset waypoint can be reached flexibly. In this project, the client can accept a payback period of 1.5 years. Because of the single investment in robots, such old injection molding factories are generally facing difficulties in recruiting workers and urgently need to transform the old production line. As a result, they have a strong drive for automation projects. In the actual operation process,

It is worth mentioning that it is very rare for injection molding factories to introduce cobot technology, which can be regarded as a huge leap for such a time-honored factory. Production line employees have no professional background and are generally very unfamiliar with the use of cobots. "Therefore, after the introduction, it is necessary to actively cultivate the on-site environment to help users understand the simple characteristics of cobot programming, be familiar with cobot operation, and enhance the confidence of front-line personnel." For this project, Director Zeng of the dealer in charge expressed his views.

In the future, customers want to compensate for labor shortages by introducing safe and flexible cobots. The use of cobots enables human-machine coexistence, which will reallocate human resources to the production line, optimize production efficiency, reduce the risk of work-related injuries, and create a more friendly and safe working environment for employees. The value of cobots is worth looking forward to.

Elite - trade-in: the old injection molding factory has gold

Elite - trade-in: the old injection molding factory has gold

Sections viewed

Contact

working hours