Universal Robots’ robot arm is simple enough to be used by all technical employees in production companies and may, in accordance with current regulations, operate without screening. The robot weighs a mere 18 kilos; thus, it can be easily moved and used in many different contexts. Due to the user-friendly software that is delivered with the robot, it can be in operation within minutes. Unlike other robots on the market, the robotic arm uses very little current, likewise it generates much less noise than large, more expensive robots.

The engineering company Linatex has been on the lookout for a flexible, low-cost robot for over a decade. Universal Robots’ robot arm meets the company’s criteria perfectly. It costs significantly less than the other robots Linatex has looked at and can quickly be re-programmed for new production batches.

Linatex processes plastics for many different branches of industry. Their products are found in everything from artificial hips to aeroplanes and wind turbines. This requires production equipment that can be reprogrammed, both quickly and easily, to perform a range of different tasks.

Compared to our competitors, we are very specialised. We can make extremely small batches. This means that we need to be flexible in our production. For this reason, we have hesitated to use robots so far as they are often very expensive and troublesome when re-programming them for different tasks, says Jørn Trustrup who is product manager at Linatex and so far has the technical responsibility for production.

- A robot quickly comes to half a million kroner when you need consultants to install it as well and when you also need specialists to operate and programme the robot, the idea quickly goes out of the window", says Jørn Trustrup.

Therefore, the company has used manual labour for a range of tasks involving the insertion of plastic components into a CNC turning centre. One of the drawbacks of this is that it is a boring job to move elements from A to B and back again all day long. Operators have to wait while the CNC machine is running and this time could be used much better elsewhere.

The robot from Universal Robots solved that challenge
" The robot arm from Universal Robots takes over the tasks that none of the staff will miss doing. At the same time, it is so easy to set it to do other tasks that our employees themselves can re-programme it.This means that the employees also regard the robot more as a help and a friend than as an enemy," says Jørn Trustrup.

He stresses that the simple construction of the robot, with its few moveable parts, and the easy user interface was very significant in their choice of Universal Robots.

- You don’t need to type or calculate anything to get the robot to work. You just need to show it the movements," explains Jørn Trustrup.

From 50 to 10,000 pieces of plastic
The robot arm is used in the largest productions, in particular where it takes 10,000 pieces of plastic one after the other and moves them over to the CNC turning centre. It also removes the blank again once it has finished turning. Linatex is also expecting to use it for batches down to as few as 50 items.

At a time when buyers are putting increasing pressure on their suppliers, savings need to be made throughout the production process. That is why the glass manufacturer Gern Glas from Central Jutland has invested in flexible robot technology from Universal Robots. Now, a one-armed "colleague" does the boring jobs.

Intelligent automation
If suppliers in other countries can do something slightly cheaper, there is a risk that high-volume orders will go abroad.
This is a fact of life for most of Danish industry. Including the manufacturer Gern Glas. The fightback begins with intelligent automation. In recent years the company has invested in new optimised production facilities, while simultaneously focusing on making the best possible use of capacity. The glass maker's customers come from Denmark and further afield, and tend to be active in the furniture industry, kitchens and construction.
When Gern Glas found out in early 2009 that there was a new and different kind of robot on the market, the management decided to invest in one of the robots from Universal Robots.
"This is a completely different kind of industrial robot, which is much cheaper than what was on the market before. The robotic arm is mobile, user-friendly and flexible. It is mounted on a trolley, so we can move it to where we can put it to best use," explains Glenn Larsen, technical manager in Gern Glas.

Expensive consultants, no thanks
He is also happy that he does not need to pay expensive consultants to reprogram the robot for new tasks.
"We can simply hold the robot arm and show it the movements we want it to make. It then repeats the movements the number of times we enter on the touchscreen supplied," says Glenn Larsen.
Bo Detlefsen, factory manager in Gern Glas, adds:
"Safety, mobility and flexibility are crucial for us. We don't need to fence it in like a normal robot. And we can easily move it to different jobs, without the need for a programmer spending three days coding, plus three mechanics and a crane to move the robot.
The robot is able to re-use the created programs for recurrent tasks.

Energy savings from day one
Just ten hours after arriving at Gern Glas in Sorring, Central Jutland, the robot was already busy with its first job – laying panes of glass on a conveyor for tempering.
Gern Glas uses a continuous furnace, integrated with an internal transport system on two floors. It is very effective, but rather power-hungry.
The glass pieces pass through the furnace on a wide conveyor. The glass often does not occupy the full width of the conveyor. The robotic arm helps to make far better use of the capacity and makes sure there are no bottleneck issues.
"It places relatively small pieces of glass on the conveyor in an extra row alongside the other pieces. That way, we can temper much more glass for the same electricity," says Glenn Larsen.

The robot does the hard work
The managers at Gern Glas also expect the new robot technology to reduce some of the time spent by employees feeding pieces into the machines. The robotic arm will take over some of this one-sided work.
"Time passes very slowly if you spend weeks doing the same thing. So the robot can relieve the pressure and create a more varied working day for employees. The robot is happy working on monotonous jobs," says Glenn Larsen.
The management of Gern Glas expects the first robotic arm to pay for itself within six to twelve months. The robot costs the equivalent of 800 working hours for hourly-paid production workers.