How a field producer tackled labor points with robotics

Take heed to this text

Alliora is situated in Fougères, a small city within the Brittany area of northwestern France, the place it manufactures bins for a variety of shoppers in industries like board video games, cosmetics, and champagne.

Antoine Bruno, basic supervisor and president, stated Alliora had wished so as to add automation to its manufacturing strains for some time. Sadly, its first expertise was troublesome. Industrial robots have been too advanced. The corporate purchased one, nevertheless it was by no means capable of get it to work correctly.

In the meantime, the necessity for automation remained as Alliora was pressured to rent many non permanent employees to fulfill seasonal demand. “Having numerous non permanent employees on a line could cause the road to decelerate,” he stated.

That’s not all: the job is bodily demanding, and staff develop musculoskeletal problems from the repetitive duties. “The bins are fairly heavy, and after some time, you begin to get again ache,” stated Patricia Chevalier, manufacturing chief at Alliora.

Alliora wanted one thing that may clear up these points whereas being straightforward to put in and program.

Resolution

Alliora’s staff did some analysis on-line and approached Sterkelec, an area distributor of robotic merchandise and options. Davy Pourrieau, Sterkelec’s product supervisor, toured Alliora’s workfloor. After discussing the problems they confronted, he beneficial that it automate the palletizing course of.

Pourrieau beneficial the Robotiq Palletizing Resolution. It consists of a collaborative robotic arm from Common Robots and a vacuum-based end-effector. Since this resolution lets finish customers shortly create totally different applications, it was good for Alliora, which manufactures a singular product for every consumer.

Bruno gathered his staff, and Pourrieau demoed the answer. The staff was enthusiastic. Bruno immediately knew it was the suitable resolution for them. With Pourrieau’s assist, it was a quick and simple implementation.

As Éric Bleau, Alliora’s manufacturing director, stated, “I’m not a roboticist. I’m not an automatician. However Davy Pourrieau defined it to me straight away, and inside 45 minutes, I understood how the system labored.”

Outcomes

It’s been just a few months because the first Robotiq Palletizing Resolution was built-in on one among Alliora’s manufacturing strains, and it has made a distinction. The cobot’s presence permits Bruno to rent two fewer non permanent employees throughout excessive manufacturing intervals, which helps stabilize the manufacturing line.

“Robots enable us to have a lot smoother manufacturing strains, and that’s precisely what we have been on the lookout for,” he stated.

The manufacturing staff can also be giving constructive suggestions. “We questioned why we hadn’t considered it earlier than, as a result of it’s such an enormous aid for the employees,” stated Patricia Chevalier.

Bruno estimates the ROI at 18 months, which is quick. It’s a profitable expertise that he plans to copy quickly — the purpose being so as to add a Robotiq Palletizing Resolution on three or 4 extra manufacturing strains.