Is Your Collaborative Robot Project Successful?
Calculate Your Project ROI
Have you invested in a Universal Robot collaborative robot yet? Well, you’re probably wondering if your cobot project is bearing fruit. Is there a cobot ROI already, or do you have to wait longer for your investment payback?
Let’s look at both tangible and intangible elements of a successful collaborative robot project. Then, let's see how you can calculate your Universal Robots ROI.
Labor Costs
Adding a collaborative robot to your plant floor can help you reduce labor costs significantly. Your cobot can perform all the repetitive tasks, make manufacturing more efficient, and free up a lot of time for your employees. They can then focus on other value-added tasks.
That means you don’t need to hire new workers, so you can save both time and money on recruitment and employee training. You only need one or more operators to monitor and maintain the robot.
The numbers are pretty straightforward here. For example, if a particular process requires four workers per shift (and two shifts), who work 40 hours per week. This is an annual salary of $50,000 each. Your labor costs for that process would then amount to $400,000 per year.
You could have only one technician per shift with an automated process and trim down your labor costs to $100,000 per year!
The Value of Labor Reassignment
When your automated process frees up more time for your employees, you can move them to higher-value positions within your organization. Reassigning employees to different roles can be excellent for your future business growth, as they can gain new skills and realize their full potential.
They can work on new projects and become more productive, efficient, motivated, and happier in the workplace. All that leads to increased job satisfaction and employee retention. This then means you can reduce your turnover rates and continue meeting the consumer demand.
Production Output - Consistency
Without a collaborative robot, your production output could be inconsistent. You could be wasting a lot of raw materials and witnessing high product rejection rates. Your employees would need to race against the clock to meet the demand, but they would likely sacrifice product quality. Needless to say, that wouldn’t make your customers happy.
With a cobot by your side, you’ll ensure stable production output and waste little to no raw materials. You'll also meet consumer demand with ease and ensure high product quality.
As a result, you’ll have happy and loyal customers and boost your retention rates. You’ll become more competitive and ensure sustainable business growth.
Production Enhancement
When you automate repetitive tasks with a collaborative robot, you'll boost your production output. You’ll also speed up your time to market. With higher efficiency and a faster turnaround time, you’ll be able to take on more projects and meet increased demands.
Image Source: Robotiq
Your production enhancement can even enable one employee to operate several different machines simultaneously. He will still be focusing only on value-added tasks rather than menial work.
How to Calculate Your Cobot Project ROI?
You can calculate your collaborative robot’s ROI by taking into account the following: production enhancement, labor costs, machine-operating costs, starting investment costs, and savings.
Let’s take the example above to create a potential scenario.
You have one operator for your Universal Robot cell, with a $50,000 annual salary. There are two work shifts, and let’s say downtime costs you $6,400, scrap parts cost you $4,700, and your machine jig costs are $6,000. That would mean your annual labor and operating costs for that process are $117,100.
With production enhancement, that one operator could work on two different machines. That could cost you, for example, $1,500 in downtime, $2,100 in scrap parts, and $8,900 in jig enhancements. So, your annual costs would be $62,500.
That means your annual savings would be $54,600.
To calculate your cobot ROI, you have to consider your starting investment, too. That includes all the expenses of investing in your cobot, including the robotic cell, gripper, fixture, the vision and monitoring systems, interface, integration, taxes, transportation, and more.
Let’s say it all adds up to $58,300. Now, divide your investment by the annual savings, and you’ll see how long it will take for your collaborative robot’s ROI payback. In our example, it’s one year (1.06).
Intangibles
Automation projects ROI involves intangible benefits, too. Automation increases your workers’ health, safety, and well-being and takes a huge load off their shoulders. As mentioned earlier, that improves job satisfaction and motivation, which translates to tangible benefits eventually.
At Gibson Engineering, we specialize in robotic technologies and offer innovative machine automation solutions. We can help you develop a robust solution to expedite your automation project from concept to completion.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation call for your next collaborative robot project. Also, discover how we can supercharge your efficiency and productivity with our solutions and engineering services.
