Meeting demand counts for everything when you work hard to succeed in your business, and material handling robots can help you reach and exceed productivity goals. Equally exciting, robotic material handling machines can save money by freeing up costs associated with additional employees like salary, taxes, health benefits and workers compensation.

Many small company owners want to hire employees, real people, to perform the jobs they need done, but owners also bear responsibility for building successful companies that will secure the jobs of those already working there. Benefits of employing robot material handling solutions include cost effectiveness over the long run and ability to work 24/7 when needed without tiring or injury. To hit, raise and exceed productivity goals while improving your safety record, consider the following heavy or light robotic material handling solutions:

1. Robot material handling assembly systems

2. Palletizing robotic material handlers

3. Pick-and-place robotic material handling equipment

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Modernize your company with a robot material handling assembly system

Justify the robot material handling cost of a robotic assembly system through increased productivity, consistency, accuracy and increased ability to meet existing demand.

I recommend: Selecting from more than 175 possible configurations, PRI Robotics can build the material handling robot you need for assembly. The company, founded in 1995, will train your employees on the system before it leaves their facility and will service and repair your robot when needed. Contact a Buckeye Machine Fabricators sales representative or engineer to discuss the material handling robotics solution that will turn your assembly process around in no time. The company originated at the end of the 1960s and now specializes in equipment for second tier auto, lighting, appliance, compression molding, heavy truck and trailer and foundry industries.

Use pick-and-place robotics to boost your robot material handling operation

Integrating robotics in material handling make great sense when it comes to pick and place.

I recommend: If your business revolves around food, consider a Raque robotic materials handling solution to handle your pick-and-place operation. The company, founded in 1975, manufactures a robotic pick-and-place system that recognizes an item fed to it, picks it up and places it in a container. If you own a small textile business, simplify your operation with the PickRobotics Walton Picker, a robotic gripper attached to a pick-and-place machine that lifts materials like cloth or foam from a stack or table one piece at a time. Contact Ellison Technologies Automation to see what kind of robotic pick-and-place system they can design for you. The company, whose roots go back to 1983, has provided turnkey robotic material handling solutions for Fortune 500 companies in agriculture, medical, auto, military and consumer industries.

Include material handling robot palletizing equipment in your inventory

While robotic palletizing will take a bite out of your equipment budget, you'll quickly reap the benefits through exponentially increased productivity, consistent quality and reduced scrap.

I recommend: Speed up your palletizing operation instantly with a robotic material mover from Kawasaki Robotics (USA). Some examples of palletizing functions they can build for you include carton/box, bag, pail, keg, frozen foods and glass bottle palletizing. Visit the ABB Group website to learn about their robotic palletizing options. ABB, the result of a 1988 merger that joined two companies operating since the late 1800s, operates in more than 100 countries and maintains offices throughout the U.S. Go to FANUC Robotics to learn more about the robotic palletizing solutions they offer. The company, a leading supplier of robotic automation, offers technical phone support, onsite field service, parts and repair and training services to its customers.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don't shy away from robotic material handler solutions because of cost. Industrial material handling robotics have entered their fourth generation, and you should consider them practical solutions for your survival and success in a competitive environment that typically provides a return on investment in less than 18 months.