A more pertinent question is: What can be automated in a cost effective manner? People from outside manufacturing look at automation like it's a holy grail - a

A more pertinent question is: What can be automated in a cost effective manner? People from outside manufacturing look at automation like it's a holy grail - and it can be in some applications - but it has to make sense. Step 1 of the evaluation would be to look at how much it costs to have a human do those operations now. This should be relatively easy. Step 2 would evaluate what process changes are needed to enable robots to perform the operations. A robot cannot handle the material to be assembled in the same way a human can, so often a human (or other automated system) "stages" material for a robot. Robots do not work well on moving pieces, so you may have to stop other operations for the robot, impacting efficiency. Robotic vision systems need to be set up and debugged, unlike human vision systems (which have typically had 20 years or so of self-programming) For automation to work well, the whole process chain has to be designed for automation. Step 3 would look at the raw cost of robotic components and programming, which is relatively easy. Step 4 would then evaluate the value add per operation of the robotic system. All in all, humans make excellent robots most of the time, as they come with Two Six-Axis arms with multi-articulated effectors (hands), and a sophisticated 3D vision system. Humans have an on-board, self-sustaining power system, and are very mobile. Some humans are even self-diagnosing and self-improving! Try a Human Today!