Growing output by 50% with out including flooring house sounds unrealistic for many producers.
That was the precise goal contained in the manufacturing facility of Beyerdynamic, a German producer {of professional} audio tools and headphones. Management set a four-year plan: elevate manufacturing facility productiveness by 50% whereas sustaining the identical footprint and defending strict high quality requirements.
No new constructing.
No compromise on acoustic precision.
No workforce discount.
Right here’s how collaborative robotic automation made it attainable.
The manufacturing problem: Enhance productiveness in the identical house
The bottleneck was a glue spraying utility used to refine headphone loudspeakers acoustically.
Beforehand, expert operators manually utilized a medium immediately onto the speaker membrane utilizing a brush. Whereas exact, the method launched:
- Variability in utility thickness
- Inconsistent high quality outcomes
- Restricted cycle time enhancements
- Ergonomic and security issues
Handbook processes typically change into the limiting issue when producers intention to scale manufacturing in constrained environments.
The crew recognized two automation alternatives:
- Dealing with the welded loudspeaker
- Spraying the acoustic medium
Collaborative robots shortly turned the popular answer on account of their flexibility, compact footprint, and ease of integration.
The automation answer: collaborative robots with built-in imaginative and prescient
The corporate chosen two UR5 collaborative robots from Common Robots to construct a synchronized robotic cell.
To unravel half dealing with challenges, they built-in:
Why imaginative and prescient programs matter in manufacturing automation
One common problem in manufacturing is an element place variance. Elements hardly ever arrive in precisely the identical orientation.
On this case:
- Welded loudspeakers have been positioned throughout the digicam’s discipline of view.
- The imaginative and prescient system acknowledged the speaker geometry.
- The gripper picked and positioned it exactly.
Engineers didn’t must manually calculate coordinates. As an alternative, they bodily guided the robotic to show positions. The plug-and-play integration decreased programming time and simplified deployment.
This mixture of collaborative robots, robotic grippers, and built-in imaginative and prescient enabled dependable choosing of non-uniformly positioned components — a typical barrier to automation adoption.
Coordinated robotic cell for dealing with and spraying
As soon as the primary robotic positioned the loudspeaker onto a fixture, the second UR5 started the spraying course of.
The automated sequence included:
- Even utility of the acoustic medium
- Alternating spraying between two fixtures
- Computerized placement of accomplished audio system into trays
- Steady coordination between each robots
The consequence was a totally synchronized robotic cell performing dealing with, spraying, and staging operations.
Preliminary integration required refinement, notably round spray precision and multi-robot timing. Nonetheless, steady optimization considerably improved cycle instances.
Measurable outcomes: 50% manufacturing improve and 50% high quality enchancment
Manufacturing formally started in July.
With the identical three workers assigned to the station, the corporate achieved:
- 50% improve in manufacturing quantity
- 50% enchancment in high quality index
- Extra steady and repeatable course of efficiency
- Decreased variability in acoustic medium utility
Constant robotic spraying eradicated fluctuations inherent in guide brushing. Output supply instances improved whereas sustaining strict high quality requirements.
Importantly, the manufacturing facility footprint remained unchanged.
For producers looking for methods to extend manufacturing with out increasing services, this case demonstrates how collaborative robotic automation can unlock hidden capability.
Human-robot collaboration in manufacturing
Profitable automation shouldn’t be solely technical; it’s cultural.
Management prioritized communication early within the undertaking. Staff have been invited to take part within the pilot program to scale back worry and encourage collaboration.
Operators have been educated to:
- Begin and monitor the robots
- Troubleshoot points
- Restart programs independently
As an alternative of performing repetitive glue utility, expert staff shifted towards higher-value duties the place human experience provides larger impression.
This method displays a broader manufacturing pattern: automation reallocates human expertise somewhat than changing it.
Key takeaways
This case highlights a number of crucial classes for producers evaluating manufacturing facility automation:
- Collaborative robots allow manufacturing will increase with out increasing flooring house
- Built-in imaginative and prescient programs clear up half place variability
- Plug-and-play grippers simplify deployment
- Human-robot collaboration improves workforce utilization
- Measurable ROI will be achieved by course of stability
For producers dealing with house constraints, high quality calls for, and strain to extend throughput, collaborative robotic cells present a sensible, scalable path ahead.
The transformation inside Beyerdynamic reveals that important productiveness features are attainable — even throughout the identical partitions.
