No matter the industry, historically end of line processes were once powered by people. Whether it was product handling, bag/carton/case loading, palletization and even pallet movement – people were the answer. However, today’s process requirements have drastically changed. Key factors such as labor shortage, QC concerns, efficiencies, and safety have led the way.
Industrial robots, Collaborative robots and AGV’s are becoming more prevalent across all industries and markets to address these challenges. The incorporation of advanced vison and controls have allowed robots and AGV’s to augment end of line processes in predetermined ways and take repetitious or hazardous work out of the human hands to create greater efficiencies while addressing labor shortage.
With floor space at a premium AGV’s help to optimize available space while capitalizing on versatility and flexibility. Certain AGV’s have the capacity to transfer data from one process to another for real time tracking. This creates system optimization and maximizes real time efficiencies.
As factories continue to look for ways to improve safety – robotics and AGV automation are two components that afford business opportunity to repurpose workers form hazardous situations to a value-add position, creating a more favorable and safe work environment.
Factories will always be challenged to improve each plant’s end of line processes. Moving product through the end of line process may seem basic at first, but after evaluation this typically proves more complex and challenging. Partnering with an experienced system integrator like CPS will prove beneficial to determine how to incorporate robots, AGV’s and other formats of automation into your end of line process successfully!