ROBOTICS AND THE SME MANUFACTURER COLLABORATIVE ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY IS GENERATING COMPELLING BUSINESS CASES FOR SME ADOPTION

In mid-2022, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio in Canada hit a historic low, according to Statistics Canada, signifying a record tight labour market. The trend has hit manufacturers especially hard, causing a surge in automation investment that is increasingly including SMEs.

Automation wasn’t an option for smaller manufacturers until recently. What’s changed is that new collaborative robotics technology has lowered the cost, slashed the implementation cycle, and greatly increased the versatility of robotic installations.

“Robots used to be these big monsters of automation, but a lot has happened in that space in the past 10 to 15 years,” says Kristian Hulgard, General Manager - Americas at OnRobot, based in Irving, Texas. “Today, the technology is at a much lower cost, and does not require a high level of expertise.

Two developments have made this change possible, Hulgard explains. “With the software we have today, operators can program their own devices, whether that’s a robot, a conveyor, a PLC, or whatever that might be. The user interface is intuitive, like familiar consumer apps, so people pick this up pretty quickly.”

Hardware has also gone through a major transformation. “The other advance is plug-andplay hardware that’s also multifunctional,” says

Hulgard. “So, you can simply plug a gripper into a robot, and it synchs automatically with the software. And this gripper can handle different shapes, different sizes, and different materials by changing a software setting.”

This means that rather than having to rebuild a robot to handle a new task, changes can be made immediately by an operator on the shop floor. “In the past, you’d have to get an engineer to design a specific gripper for the part you want to grip,” says Hulgard. “ So, this has removed an enormous barrier for SMEs.”

The versatility of these machines also makes it easier to get a solid return on investment. “With traditional robotics, you had to match one robot to one tool,” says Joe Campbell, head of Americas marketing and application development for Universal Robots (UR), Ann Arbor, Michigan, “which meant that as a shop owner, you had to make sure that you had enough production to keep that machine tool and robot combination busy. But today’s robots, because they’re versatile and easy to program, they can be easily redeployed to other tasks. So, the utilization of the robot is extremely high.”

Dramatically reduced costs are another major factor in lowering the bar. Both OnRobot and UR routinely deliver complete solutions for less than $100,000. “Prices have dropped to about a third,” says Campbell. “The actual robots are about the same price. But the engineering, peripherals, safety infrastructure, installation and training costs are all greatly decreased or eliminated entirely.”

First Steps

Part of the power of the new collaborative robotics is that the technology adapts well to an incremental approach, where a company can start with straightforward projects and expand its efforts as the competency grows.

“The first advice I would give is to start simple,” says Hulgard. “Don’t think you can fully automate the whole floor in one afternoon. There are a lot of things around automation that you need to consider, like the workspace culture, and helping your employees get used to changes. So if this is new territory, it makes sense to start with a very simple process, right, and then be very keen and very focused on your ROI calculation.”

SMEs are starting their automation journey with routine tasks that otherwise tie up workers with low value work. The three most popular applications are machine tending, for example, loading and unloading a CNC machine, general material handling, and palletizing. “If you’re doing a lot of palletizing, it now makes absolutely no sense to do it manually,” says Campbell.

Discrete processes that don’t interfere with other processes are the most straightforward targets. “Palletizing is a relatively easy process to automate because it is at the end of the line,” says Hulgard. “If you try to automate something between other processes, that gets more difficult.”

Welding is another important area, and the fastest growing for UR. “We’ve got a number of partners that provide welding solutions on our platform,” says Campbell. “The interface is designed for welders – it uses the same symbology that a welder sees on a welding drawing.”

GETTING INTERNAL BUY-IN

The incremental approach allowed by collaborative technology makes the transition much easier on the workforce.

It’s also important to emphasize the userfriendly aspects of the technology. “There’s an emotional side to this,” says Campbell, “but once people see that you deploy the cobots without safety cages, safety interlocks, and big red “danger” signs, the comfort level just goes up. In many cases, workers start to see the cobot as a helpful co-worker.”

The other important aspect is that cobots are best suited for dull, tedious work. “Cobots take the unpleasant task workload off the operator,” says Campbell. “A skilled welder, for example, does not want to weld 350 little brackets. So, when you present this as a tool that will simplify their tasks and give them more job satisfaction, then they’re up for it.”

But perhaps most satisfying is the fact that collaborative robotics leverages the knowledge that workers already have. “If you understand the work process, then you’re more than halfway there,” says Campbell.

Moving Forward

To make collaborative robotics a success, Hulgard and Campbell recommend working with local partners that understand SMEs. Internally, it’s best to find a champion that can act as a catalyst for further advances. “You get some people that are excited about the technology and are not afraid of it, and then you start building out and adding on,” says Hulgard.

Companies with some successful projects under their belt can then proceed to some of the more complex applications. “If you can’t mechanically ensure the location of an object, you’ll need some kind of sensor to find it,” says Campbell. “There’s a whole class of applications that do that. But for SMEs just starting out, I would say find an application that doesn’t require a vision system.

This barrier prevents SME logistics companies from implementing robotics, Hulgard says. “Logistics is more complex because of the variety of shapes and sizes that the machinery has to handle,” says Hulgard. “It is a rapidly growing area for robotics, but it requires vision systems and are more complex.”

Constraints aside, the SME market for robotics is growing at an unprecedented rate. “It’s eye-opening for people to see how much technology they can get for their dollar,” says Hulgard. “We’ve seen an incredible rise in demand – more than we’ve ever seen before.” SP

BY CHRISTIAN SIVIÈRE