Lean automation for low-volume manufacturing environment

Abstract

In most cases, the complexity of installation work, such as the induction of a collaborative robot at metal-working enterprises exceeds the complexity of machining and significantly exceeds the labour costs for all other types of production. Today the most assembly jobs in the manufacturing domain of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are still performed by hand due to high mix and low volume orders. The interaction of humans and robots may increase the efficiency in complex assembly processes. The flexibility and variability of assembly processes require close cooperation between the worker and the automated production system. Automation of production is not an easy process for an enterprise, which requires high investment and additional skills, but it is necessary to improve working conditions and product quality. This article provides an efficiency analysis of collaborative robots usage in one of the Estonian enterprise.