Universal Robots cobots help China's manufacturing industry in terms of technology, talent, and low carbon

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China ("CPC") was a complete success recently, and the congress once again emphasized that high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. One of the important tasks of high-quality development is to build a modern industrial system, promote new industrialization, and accelerate the construction of a manufacturing power and a digital China. Based on a deep understanding of customer needs during years of product research and development, Denmark collaborative robot manufacturer Universal Robots clearly observed that the high-quality development of industrial manufacturing is inseparable from three major elements: scientific and technological innovation, talent base, and green path.

Adam Sobieski, President of Universal Robots Greater China, said: "China has always been a strategic location for Universal Robots, and Universal Robots firmly believes that our cobots can provide all-round support for the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry in terms of technology, talent, and low carbon. To date, Universal Robots has sold more than 50,000 cobots worldwide, and our large installed base has enabled us to accumulate first-hand feedback on user needs, and we can continuously iterate our products based on real feedback to ensure that we truly meet the needs of high-quality development of the industry. ”

Technology drives the digital and intelligent upgrading of the manufacturing industry

One of the essentials of high-quality development is the continuous improvement of efficiency. In the era of digital intelligence, the improvement of production efficiency is undoubtedly inseparable from the drive of automation and other scientific and technological means. In the process of embracing automation, more and more companies are turning their attention to collaborative robots, first of all, thanks to their safe, flexible and convenient technical features.

Unlike traditional industrial robots, cobots are able to interact directly and closely with employees, matching existing work cells and workstations without the need for additional safety guardrails. The cobots are also easy to install and operate, with the flexibility to quickly redeploy and switch tasks across multiple production lines, and even non-programmed operators can be quickly set up and operated with a simple and intuitive interface with minimal training. This means that companies do not need to change their existing plant layout or hire programming personnel specifically for this purpose, but they can respond more agilely to the changing needs of the market while improving operational safety.

The above advanced technical characteristics are the ultimate embodiment of the product research and development capabilities of collaborative robot enterprises, and the importance is self-evident, but in the final analysis, the premise of the effective implementation of any technical capabilities must be to accurately point to customer needs. Therefore, collaborative robot companies must continue to innovate and iterate based on the real feedback of customers, so as to build a solid competitive barrier and continuously inject new momentum into the development of the industry.

Universal Robots' new UR20, which was launched earlier this year, is the latest example of how it responds to user feedback. Universal Robots launched the UR20 in response to a clear response to the urgent need for a 20-kilogram robot with a payload of 20 kg, but at the same time did not want to sacrifice other performance due to the increased load. Based on this observation, Universal Robots completely redesigned the robotic arm, which is the largest design refresh that Universal Robots has ever made to the joint. In the end, the UR20 cobot achieved innovative breakthroughs in load capacity and operating range, achieving a large load of 20KG and a working radius of 1750 mm, while repeating the positioning accuracy of up to ±0.05 mm, redefining the collaborative robot.

Universal Robots cobots help China's manufacturing industry in terms of technology, talent, and low carbon

[Picture: UR20, a new product launched by Universal Robots this year]

Empower high-quality talents to update their skills

Obviously, high-quality talents are an important foundation for achieving high-quality development. In recent years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that it is necessary to accelerate the training of a large number of high-quality workers and technical talents. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China also pointed out once again that it is necessary to strengthen the support of talents for modernization, adhere to respect for labor, knowledge, talent and creation, and accelerate the construction of the world's important talent center and innovation highland.

Behind the government's attention to the cultivation of manufacturing talents is the difficulty of recruiting and employing workers faced by the global manufacturing industry. Taking welding as an example, in July 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the "National Recruitment Ranking of the 100 Most Lacking Jobs" in the second quarter, and "welders" were on the list, ranking 15th [ Information source: government website]. As a type of work with high technical requirements and certain health risks, welding's "needs" are greater than "demands" not only in the difficulty of recruitment, but also in the difficulty of employment, such as the skill training of young skilled workers and the assurance of production quality, the stability of young skilled workers' careers, the high-load working state of senior technicians, and their ability to master emerging automation technologies.

Universal Robots is keenly aware of this common challenge in the industry and continues to introduce a wide range of automated welding solutions, including weld seam tracking, automatic generation of welding paths through 3D visual point calculation, and mobile welding stations, making cobots the best "hand-to-hand" for welding technicians.

　　[Figure: Universal Robots Welding Workstation]

Compared with traditional industrial robots, which are more complicated to program, operate, and maintain, collaborative robots are easier to operate. Universal Robots offers a simple graphical programming method with a drag-and-drop teach-in function that allows ordinary operators to complete welding tasks independently without the need for specialized programming skills. It can be seen that collaborative robots are not simply "replaced" skilled workers, but through automation to stabilize the quality of production tasks, give young people new skills, and slow down the huge workload of senior technicians, so as to indirectly improve the working environment, help workers achieve skill iteration, and let more talents be willing to return to the manufacturing industry.

Universal Robots not only provides advanced collaborative robots to assist workers in production and operation, but also carries out a series of education and training initiatives, hoping to help the whole industry cultivate more collaborative robot experts, and empower more young people in China to update their knowledge and skills to become senior engineers and technicians, so as to make a good talent reserve for China's manufacturing industry to continue to move towards the high-end of the industrial chain, and help the industry reap the return on automation investment faster.

At present, Universal Robots China has set up "Universal Robots Academy" training centers in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and Taiwan, and at the same time deployed the "Universal Robots Academy" authorized training center project, which currently covers Dongguan, Suzhou and other key cities in the Greater Bay Area and many strategic areas of the Yangtze River Delta, so that students can participate in professional collaborative robot training at the "doorstep". Worldwide, around 150,000 people have acquired the skills needed to work with Universal Robots through the Universal Robots Academy training courses.

Contribute to the green transformation of production methods

High-quality development cannot come at the expense of the environment. As global warming continues to pose a serious threat to the global ecology, countries have tightened their environmental protection policies, and China is also steadily advancing the "dual carbon" goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China once again emphasized the need to accelerate the green transformation of development mode, implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, and promote the formation of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles.

Universal Robots observes that it has become an industry consensus to include carbon footprint factors in the quality of development, and therefore considers energy efficiency in the design of its products. The contribution of cobots to green development lies first of all in their own low power consumption. Due to the need to collaborate safely and in close proximity to employees, cobots are designed to be thinner and lighter than traditional industrial robots, so they consume less electricity than the latter, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to run everyday household appliances. For example, the UR3e consumes only 100W on average, which is the same as the energy consumption of a typical desktop computer. Universal Robots' latest payload, the UR20, is capable of supporting a payload of 20 kg with a power of only 500W, which is equivalent to the power of a high-efficiency washing machine.

In addition, by incorporating cobots into the production line, it can also improve product yield, reduce consumable costs due to manual errors, and help reduce the generation of scrap, thereby further reducing the carbon footprint.

Universal Robots has always focused on customer insights to drive innovation, and we want our products to accurately understand customer needs and help each customer succeed. To this end, its engineering and product teams bring together a full range of professionals, including engineers, product managers, designers, technologists and developers, to integrate customer feedback into product iterations to develop targeted, high-quality solutions that provide users with a superior user experience.

In November, Universal Robots will join forces with Global Mobile Robot manufacturer Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) to participate in the China International Industry Fair (CII) to be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from November 30 to December 4. Universal Robots will showcase a variety of cobot products covering automotive, electronics, metalworking, food packaging and other industries, and showcase the latest applications in welding, machine tool loading and unloading, wafer handling, dual-arm collaboration, palletizing, assembly, dispensing and other scenarios. Universal Robots welcomes industry colleagues to visit booth A005 in Hall 8.1 to explore how to closely focus on customer insights to help the manufacturing industry continue to move forward on the road of high-quality development.

Universal Robots cobots help China's manufacturing industry in terms of technology, talent, and low carbon

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