Robotic automation can be a sensitive subject in the manufacturing industry. Many believe automation improves a company’s bottom line to the detriment of its employees. However, robotic automation benefits your machine operators by improving their safety and increasing their efficiency as machinists. From handling raw material and loading/unloading machines to inspecting, cleaning and palletizing finished parts, robots complement machinists by taking away exhausting work and allowing them to complete more important tasks.
A robot’s purpose in the workplace is to serve as a supplement to operators and to help safeguard them from various hazards within the workplace. Utilizing robots in your operation can help in the following ways:
- Robotic machinery can reduce the risk of falls by reaching items that are out of the reach of employees.
- Workers are more prone to injury when they are tired or fatigued. Robotic automation helps stem the chance of fatigue-related injuries by performing taxing jobs repeatedly without variation.
- Robots can handle heavy loads, which helps to reduce the need for your operators to lift and carry heavy objects.
- Robots, especially those allocated to loading and unloading machines, can reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders usually caused by tasks requiring repetitive motion.
With skilled machinists proving more difficult to find in recent days, it is important to utilize them appropriately in their position. By removing mid-process parts handling from your operators, they are freed to focus on their other responsibilities while only managing the flow of raw materials and finished parts.
When your workers aren’t focused on loading and unloading parts from machines, they can spend more time focusing on quality control and process optimization. They can appropriately supervise the machines, keep your equipment maintained properly, and ensure that the operation is running at maximum efficiency. Robots help eliminate human error from as many points in the machining process as possible, so your operators can continue in their role with confidence and be comfortable with their position in your organization.
Standard automation cells from Automation Within Reach can remove machine tending from your operators' plates, saving them from fatigue and injury, allowing them more time to continue improving your operation and giving them more confidence in their position at your company. Contact us today for a consultation to see which of our machine tending products is a good fit for your operation.
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