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Topics 22 March 2024
Side by Side – The New Collaboration Between Humans and Robots in Control Cabinet Manufacturing

The future of control cabinet manufacturing, which is currently associated with time-consuming manual assembly, will no longer be solely in the hands of humans but also those of robots. This is not the case with conventional industrial robots for mass production, but rather with “cobots” (collaborative robots). After a successfully completed risk assessment, these special robots can work safely next to humans without robotic protective equipment. This is called human-robot collaboration (MRC).

At a Glance:

  • Cobots can help perform physically demanding tasks
  • Using robots to increase efficiency and productivity
  • Robots provide a significant advantage amid a skilled labor shortage because they’re always available

Challenges in Control Cabinet Manufacturing – Why Using Robots/Cobots Is Sensible

In the workshop-style production of control cabinet manufacturing, a high proportion of manual assembly is still present, especially for time-consuming terminal strip assembly. In addition, the variety of different control cabinets built leads to high production costs. These two factors can be improved by using robots/cobots. In what detail, you will learn below.

The Benefits of Robots/Cobots in Control Cabinet Manufacturing

Cobots are not a substitute for human beings; rather, they help expand a person’s capabilities and free up resources for other tasks. As robots perform repetitive or physically demanding tasks, human creativity can be leveraged for other, more challenging tasks. In addition, the robots mitigate the skills shortage because they are always available and assume specific tasks after just one programming.

The common goal of collaboration between humans and robots in control cabinet manufacturing? A new level of efficiency and productivity! The partial automation of previously manual assembly processes by robots leads to increased productivity, quality and ergonomics – no need to fundamentally adapt the processes.

The Most Important Benefits of Cobots at a Glance

  • Easy integration: Thanks to user-friendly interfaces and intuitive programming functions, cobots can be easily integrated into existing manual assembly systems and workflows. Operators do not need any special technical knowledge or training.
  • Ensuring quality and productivity: Cobots handle tasks with constant skill, precision and speed. The high speed leads to shorter production and throughput times.
  • Flexibility and adaptivity: Cobots adapt to many assembly tasks – without costly retrofitting or reprogramming.
  • Streamline processes & increase efficiency: Cobots are especially useful for repetitive and physically demanding activities (e.g., terminal block assembly). This saves effort, frees up staff for more complex tasks and increases overall productivity. Additionally, the employee can mount or prepare additional rail-mount terminal blocks on another workpiece as the robot works.
  • Cost-efficiency: Integrating cobots into control cabinet manufacturing processes can also lead to significant cost savings through efficient operation and low downtimes.
  • Safety: Cobots can integrate into existing manual assembly systems without complicated protective devices. Since they can also detect the presence of humans, a secure collaboration between robot and human is possible. Creating a safe work environment minimizes the risk of work accidents.

End-to-End Data Availability

Consistent data availability is essential for controlling automation technology such as robots/cobots. Data consistency in control cabinet manufacturing is often complicated by media discontinuities along the value-added chain. Thanks to suitable interfaces and high-quality item data from component manufacturers, continuous control can be performed through the process, from control cabinet engineering to the system.

Factors that Militate Against the Use of Robots/Cobots

Of all the advantages that speak for the use of robots in control cabinet manufacturing, there are also a few disadvantages or hurdles. The biggest ones stem from the purchase and setup of the robot system because they are associated with high initial effort and costs. Another potential hurdle is complex, error-prone tasks, such as placing terminal blocks on a terminal strip, which can be swiftly resolved with the help of human fine motor skills and problem-solving.

Conclusion

Human-robot collaborations offer great added value in control cabinet manufacturing despite high initial costs and integration effort – especially given the current skills shortage and time-consuming manual assembly processes.