The Dollars and Sense of Collaborative Robots

Imagining an employee who can work 24/7, be completely consistent in their work, never take a vacation, never complain, never get distracted or file a workman’s comp claim sounds like a straightforward way to figure a great return on investment in a collaborative robot. But is it really that simple? Maybe in some cases, but it really depends on the work the robot will do and the associated value of that work. A more in-depth analysis of the overall situation may reveal that the robot is more efficient at some things and humans are better at others, even though the robot may be technically capable of it.

Take Amazon’s warehouses as an example: the robots were great at collecting products for an order but humans were more efficient at packing the products into boxes. Without that insight, Amazon may have negated some of the ROI of deploying robots in its warehouses.

“The challenge of getting ROI out of a robot depends on what value the customer places on the process and what the objective is,” Brian Dillman, area sales manager at Universal Robots. “The goal might be to remove the person for safety reasons or to avoid repetitive motion issues, thus letting the robot do the dangerous work. The goal might be to reallocate the person to a more value-added role.”

Dillman also points out, “Other ways to get ROI from a robot include implementing automation to increase productivity. That can include adding a second shift of production in a lights-out environment. Or you may want to bring work in-house that had been outsourced. Bringing it in-house can offer value in the ability to control cost, control processes, or control lead time.”

The advances in GUI technology and simplified programming offer the opportunity for laborers to become technicians and reduced the need for programming specialists. “Robots don’t require skilled workers,” said Dillman. “Quite the contrary. Operators can easily program the robots designed by companies such as Universal Robots. That’s part of the value proposition of these new robots.”

Whether implemented for the purposes of automation, safety, or productivity, calculating the ROI of a collaborative robot investment depends on the situation and is maximized by researching the best role for the robot in conjunction with human effort. To get a general idea of collaborative robot ROI in your facility, check out our ROI calculator.