How Röchling Industrial Increased Production by 30% with Cobot Systems

What do you do when faced with labor challenges and tedious tasks? With labor shortages and the repetitive nature of machine tending, many manufacturers struggle to maintain productivity and employee satisfaction.

Röchling Industrial, a key player in the machining of plastics and plastic composites, faced significant challenges in maintaining a steady workforce for their CNC machine operations.

High turnover rates and the repetitive nature of machine tending made it difficult to sustain productivity. They sought a solution that could automate this process and integrate seamlessly into their existing operations.

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The Challenge: Labor Shortage

Steve Wilson, Production Coordinator at Röchling Industrial, oversees production on the ground level and has been with the company for 16 years.

He explains their primary challenge:

“The challenge we faced was finding people to run the parts three shifts, five days a week on a continual basis. We had a very high turnover rate because it was such a mundane job to take something, put something in, take something out. A lot of people didn’t like doing that for 8 hours a day.”

They needed a solution that could automate this tedious process while maintaining high levels of precision and efficiency.

After researching various companies and packages, Cobot Systems emerged as the optimal partner, offering a comprehensive and easy-to-implement solution.

The Solution: Machine Tending Cobot

Cobot Systems’ CNC Machine Tending Cobot provided a complete, plug-and-play package that addressed all of Röchling Industrial’s requirements.

The Cobot Systems solution was selected for its simplicity, ease of programming, and efficiency.

Read about Are CNC Machine Tending Cobots a Good Fit for Your Business?

According to Steve, the process of integrating the Cobot into their operations was straightforward:

“We went to their headquarters and got a nice demonstration of what they offer, how easy it was to program, and all the little details that they had already worked out. It worked great for our company. We didn’t have to engineer anything. It was all engineered for us. It just went together seamlessly.”

The turnkey solution included not just the robotic arm but also all necessary safety measures, stacking systems, and work holding devices. This completely eliminated the complications and expenses of designing a custom solution.

Implementation and Results

The implementation of the CNC Machine Tending Cobot was remarkably quick. “It was a plug-and-play system. We were able to bring it right in, mount it, and be able to use it within a day,” said Steve.

The system was operational almost immediately, tending parts for their year-round production.

One of the key benefits observed was a significant increase in production efficiency. Steve noted, 

“The Cobot system seemed to give us the best advantage to what we needed done. It is very simple to set up, to use, to change over, very quick and efficient.”

Automation reduced the mundane workload on human operators and provided a consistent and precise output.

The robot is also capable of running parts continuously, with minimal human intervention required. “Right now, the robot is running a part that we run all year long, five days a week. It’s loading and unloading; we load the pallet once a shift, and it’ll run all day long,” Steve explained.

The introduction of the Cobot resulted in a steady production increase.

“I believe our production went up 30% continually over time. The reliability and consistency of the Cobot have been well-received by the team, with some even joking that it’s the perfect worker—always on time, never taking breaks, and able to operate even in lights-out conditions.”

Automation That Fits

Röchling Industrial’s experience with Cobot Systems demonstrates the significant advantages of integrating collaborative robots into CNC machining operations.

The ease of implementation, combined with the system’s ability to run with minimal supervision, resulted in a notable improvement in productivity and efficiency.

Steve highly recommends Cobot Systems to any manufacturing company, especially in an era where finding reliable labor is increasingly challenging.

He emphasized,

“If we had to have done this ourselves, we would probably still be in the engineering phase of it. I would highly recommend Cobot Systems to any manufacturing company, especially now where it’s hard to find the labor. It was exactly what we were looking for.”

Find Out How Seamless Our Machine Tending Cobot Systems Are!

Don’t let labor shortages, dwindling productivity or the hassle of traditional CNC robots slow you down. Without automation, you risk ongoing inefficiencies and missed profit opportunities.

Discover how Cobot Systems’ CNC machine tending solutions can transform your workflow. Our cobots eliminate idle spin times and boost your bottom line, all without the implementation headaches.

Ready to streamline your operations and maximize efficiency? Contact us today to find out how easy it is to transform your CNC processes.

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