Thousands of businesses rely on Collaborative Robots to...
- Increase productivity
- Adapt to changing product demand
- Improve employee well-being and retention
- Staff through labor shortages
UR cobots increase machine capacity by 30%
RSS Manufacturing
In short
California-based RSS Manufacturing and Phylrich, who manufacture plumbing fixtures and fittings for faucets, needed to meet a new monthly order of 700 valves. Their CNC machine was able to produce 400 valves per month with two shifts – so even if they put a third shift on it still wouldn’t be sufficient to meet the target.
By adding a UR5 to their production setup RSS increased the production speed significantly and also opened up 30% more capacity on existing machinery. As a result, the US manufacturer is now competitive with overseas competitors.
Instead of buying another CNC machine RSS decided to search the market for robotics arms. The solution, however, would have to match RSS’ highly specialized short run production facility with turnaround time as quick as 24 hours.
RSS Manufacturing
Industry Furniture and Equipment
Country North America
Number of Employees 50-100
Cobots used UR5
Geoff Escalette, CEOIn a flexible environment like this, you need a flexible robot. One that can work without safety cages, one that is portable and one that can be reprogrammed quickly.
Cobot solution works 24/7
RSS’ many demands were met by a UR5. The robotic arm was put to work 24/7 and within 11 days the order of 700 valves was ready to be shipped off. And this was only the first step towards optimising the production. When the UR5 was deployed to feed tubes into a mandrel tube bender, the RSS team was in for a surprise.
“We had not expected the robot to be able to operate so fast. It pushed the limits of the mandrel bender so much that hydraulics in the bender overheated and started to malfunction”, says Escalette. “But it did produce 1500 pieces in four hours. It would have taken us two to three days to accomplish with manual labour. Now we have optimised the bender to keep up with the robot”.
The master plan of RSS was to be competitive with overseas manufacturers and bring back manufacturing jobs to the US. And the UR5 has contributed significantly to this plan. Not only does the robotic arm make it possible to increase production speed without buying additional CNC machines. The UR5 has also opened up 30% more capacity on existing machinery.
Automation challenges solved:
Increased production needs are met by addition of UR5. Saved costs. Gave RSS a competitive edge with overseas manufacturers. Payback period: 2-6 months.
Key value drivers:
Easy programming Fast set-up Flexible deployment Collaborative and safe
Tasks solved by collaborative robots:
CNC
Get in touch with Universal Robots
Local Office
- Universal Robots USA, Inc
- 27175 Haggerty Road, Suite 160
- 48377 Novi, MI
Contact us: +1 844-462-6268
Contact us: + 1-844-GO-COBOT