Manufacturing operations are below fixed strain to ship extra with much less, making cobot options a quick observe to measurable beneficial properties, particularly for multi-site operations. Whether or not you’re overseeing 5 crops or fifty, there is a rising physique of proof: cobots can enhance output and speed up ROI with out compromising security or requiring months of disruptive modifications.
Drawing from real-world expertise in multi-site deployments, here is how producers are making cobots work—and how one can too.
1. Begin with simplicity: Establish low-hanging fruit
In giant operations, not each web site has the identical readiness or constraints. Main producers start with the best, highest-impact initiatives. They stroll the ground, in search of:
- Bottlenecks in repetitive duties (like pick-and-place)
- Duties the place including a cobot doesn’t require main line redesigns
A former international automation lead from a 20+ web site producer summed it up effectively: “We prioritized what might be accomplished rapidly with minimal modification—even when ROI wasn’t absolutely the highest—as a result of pace to deployment mattered.”
Use line walks together with your engineering workforce and construct a shortlist of cobot-ready duties. Rank them by:
- Complexity
- Estimated integration time
- Anticipated manufacturing acquire
2. Simulate the acquire earlier than you automate
One factor decision-makers constantly want is quantifiable, site-specific information. You don’t want superior modeling software program to simulate beneficial properties—get scrappy:
- Run guide simulations with operators mimicking cobot pace and rhythm for just a few hours.
- Use cardboard or 3D-printed mockups to recreate workstation layouts.
- If in case you have check cells or labs, simulate full strains with mock cobots and sensors to clock real-world cycle occasions.
This provides you credible estimates of potential manufacturing will increase—typically starting from 5% to 30%, relying on the applying.
3. Measure once more, and see ROI enhance
Right here’s one thing many producers uncover after the very fact: ROI typically seems to be even higher just a few months after set up. Why?
As a result of cobots ship extra constant efficiency than preliminary human-simulated estimates can seize. As soon as deployed, you possibly can observe manufacturing information out of your ERP or QA methods—and plenty of websites report that the precise beneficial properties outpace the conservative estimates used within the authentic enterprise case.
One multi-site producer famous, “We all the time estimated beneficial properties conservatively, however after three months, precise output was 10–15% larger than anticipated. The true ROI blew away our mannequin.”
The takeaway? Don’t cease at estimating ROI—plan to re-measure it after deployment. It strengthens your case for scaling throughout different websites.
4. Construct the enterprise case with Lean Robotics rules
Lean Robotics teaches us to reduce integration time by clearly separating the phases of design, integration, and operation. In multi-site deployments, this technique turns into much more highly effective:
- Design as soon as, deploy many: Develop modular options you possibly can clone throughout websites with minimal changes.
- Shorten integration cycles: Favor initiatives the place your integration can occur in weeks, not months.
- Observe efficiency post-deployment: Monitor ROI in real-time utilizing manufacturing metrics pulled from the ERP or QA methods.
One producer achieved sub-1-year ROI on greater than half their deployments by tightly aligning with Lean Robotics strategies—and reinvested these beneficial properties into scaling sooner.
5. Get quick approvals with clear ROI projections
Resolution-makers aren’t simply in search of value financial savings—they need manufacturing will increase they’ll financial institution on. The tipping level? When ROI falls below 12 months, initiatives typically get greenlit with minimal resistance.
Right here’s what to incorporate in your proposal:
- Estimated manufacturing enhance (conservative vary, e.g., 5–10%)
- Cycle time enhancements
- Labor affect (reassignment or discount—not simply headcount financial savings)
- Anticipated payback time in months
Need a shortcut? Attempt Robotiq’s free Cobot ROI Calculator to plug in your individual numbers. You’ll get an prompt estimate to validate your case with stakeholders.
6. Assume massive, begin sensible
If you’re chargeable for a number of factories, a cobot technique cannot be one-size-fits-all. However it may be systematic. Establish repeatable purposes, develop commonplace kits, and align native web site managers behind easy metrics: productiveness, security, and pace.
And bear in mind: with the correct planning, your first profitable deployment is just the start. Many of the corporations we see begin with one web site and scale quick—as a result of the outcomes converse for themselves.
Able to discover your individual ROI?
Use our Cobot ROI Calculator to see how briskly your operation may benefit—whether or not you handle one web site or twenty.
