Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) make products that are revolutionizing the manufacturing world. Our collaborative robots and autonomous mobile robots enable industrial workers to move from dull, dirty, and dangerous work to higher value, less dangerous, and more fulfilling activities. Additionally, using collaborative and autonomous robots often enables cleaner and more efficient/sustainable manufacturing.
It’s no secret that there is a global need to invest in the transition towards a greener, carbon neutral world. While most of us do not think of robots as a transition to this, there are great prospects in using robot technology to support the development towards a greener and more sustainable society.
Our Universal Robots collaborative robots directly contribute to the green transition, for example, by efficiently and safely maintaining and repairing wind turbine blades. When we broaden the perspective and look at the global megatrends, robots are in fact playing an increasingly important role when it comes to making manufacturing more sustainable.
One way in which robot technology makes manufacturing more sustainable is by reducing waste. This can be achieved because robots can repeat the same process repeatedly with very high precision. Though this quality improvement at a small factory may seem insignificant when looking at the big picture, if repeated tens of thousands of times worldwide, it can make a drastic difference when making the best possible use of scarce resources. Simultaneously, Universal Robots’ collaborative robots (cobots) need far less space than traditional industrial robots. This allows manufacturers to produce in smaller buildings and thereby reduce heat and energy consumption.
Another way in which our robots make manufacturing more sustainable is their flexibility. Cobots are a lot more flexible than traditional industrial robots. Businesses can easily and quickly move them from one task to another, allowing for a transition from mass production to tailor-made and high-mix, low-volume production. This gives businesses the ability to adapt to consumer needs while avoiding waste and overproduction.
MiR’s autonomous mobile robots make manufacturing more sustainable because they help manufacturers work faster and more effectively. Autonomous mobile robots give manufacturers and distributors a quick and easy way to automate material handling tasks, increase the accuracy of intra-operational delivery and improve inventory management. They can also transform material handling by moving inventory more quickly and efficiently. Unlike autonomous guided vehicles, which are expensive, rigid and complex to install, autonomous mobile robots are affordable, flexible and safe. AMRs deliver a sustainable solution for labor-intensive material handling tasks – enabling factories to lower costs, improve productivity and optimize capacity.
The boundaries of what automation and robotics can do are constantly being pushed and the potential is huge. Robots can play a key role when it comes to helping manufacturers going green, because they can make it both easier and more attractive for companies to adjust their production and live up to the green standards of both today and the future.