How to Guarantee a First Deployment Success
Modern collaborative robots (cobots) promise quick programming, flexible deployment, and minimal safety barriers—making them a popular choice to solve labor shortages and boost productivity. However, the unfortunate reality is that many cobots end up sitting on shelves, unused and gathering dust. This article lays out exactly why that happens and how you can guarantee a successful first deployment for your cobot.
- Frank’s Cautionary Tale
Meet Frank, a job shop owner battling high turnover and a tight labor market. Desperate for a solution, he purchased a cobot after hearing about its ease of programming and built-in safety features. The distributor’s pitch highlighted plug-and-play grippers and how the robot could be taught a pick-and-place routine in minutes.
Unfortunately, Frank’s biggest roadblock wasn’t programming. It was part presentation. His six different parts arrived randomly in bins, and the cobot needed them oriented precisely to load into a vise. The distributor offered a vibratory bowl feeder, but Frank’s part variation was too high for just one or two feeders. Fixture-based solutions only staged a few parts at a time. In the end, Frank grew frustrated with repeated phone calls to the distributor and the growing number of unknowns. The result? His newly purchased collaborative robot ended up on the shelf, never fully deployed.
Why Did Frank Want to Automate?
Frank’s reasoning for automation was sound. Cobots offer clear advantages over traditional industrial robots, including lower costs, greater flexibility, and ease of use. Many manufacturers share the same pain points:
- Constant Labor Struggle: Filling open positions was nearly impossible.
- Competition & Pricing: Customers demanded lower prices, pushing him to optimize costs.
- Skilled Workforce: His best workers were aging, and new hires were hard to retain.
- Flexibility: Traditional industrial robots required costly programming and fencing, which wasn’t viable for frequent changeovers.
Frank initially considered traditional industrial robots, but their high costs and complex programming made them impractical for a dynamic job shop. Cobots offered him not only cost-effectiveness but also unmatched flexibility and ease of integration without specialized personnel, making them a clearly superior choice for his needs.
- The Real Cost: Part Presentation
Programming a cobot is often straightforward, but presenting parts in a consistent and pickable orientation can be challenging. Each presentation method has cost implications and complexities:
- Fixtures and Peg Boards
- Pros: Low cost, easy to design.
- Cons: Limited capacity, frequent operator intervention, not ideal for multiple part types.
- Bowl Feeders
- Pros: Great for high-volume, similar parts.
- Cons: Costs escalate quickly when multiple feeders are required.
- Conveyor Systems with 2D Cameras
- Pros: More flexible than fixed tooling.
- Cons: Integration complexity, moderate to high cost.
- Random Bin Picking with 3D Vision
- Pros: Ultimate flexibility for chaotic part orientation.
- Cons: Highest cost, steep learning curve, and longer deployment time.
Frank discovered that part presentation was the real challenge, not the robot itself. Properly planning how parts move from “chaos to order” is crucial to avoid having your cobot gather dust.
III. Embracing Lean Robotics for Faster ROI
To make cobot deployment smoother, Sam Bouchard of Robotiq proposes Lean Robotics—a structured framework dividing robot implementation into Design, Integrate, and Operate stages. The core principle is to minimize non-value-added (NVA) time, focusing on rapid ROI.
- Design Phase
- Map Current Process: Know your manual workflow before automating.
- Set Goals: Define cycle time, throughput, and quality targets.
- Select Right Tools: Choose end-effectors, vision systems, and sensors that fit your application.
- Integrate Phase
- Minimize Downtime: Use offline programming and simulation to test.
- Robust Tooling: Ensure grippers and sensors are reliable.
- Iterate: Expect challenges and refine solutions incrementally.
- Operate Phase
- Monitor & Optimize: Use data to improve cycle time and consistency.
- Maintenance & Training: Keep a schedule for upkeep and empower operators to do basic troubleshooting.
By addressing NVA in all three stages, you can start production sooner, thus recovering costs faster. The key is keeping it simple for your first deployment.
IV. Three Essentials for a Successful First Deployment
- Stay Lean
Overengineering quickly inflates costs and slows your time-to-production. Instead, pick a straightforward task like material transfer, basic pick-and-place, or machine tending. A simpler scope gives you a faster win, builds momentum, and reduces risk.
- Choose the Right Application
Not all tasks are created equal. Assembly, for example, often requires multiple bowl feeders or complex part presentation solutions—drastically raising the integration costs. A simpler pick-and-place or CNC machine tending job is more likely to result in success.
- Decide Between D.I.Y. or Turnkey
A D.I.Y. approach may work if you have a robot champion on staff—someone dedicated to programming, tooling, and integration. However, if your in-house resources are limited, opting for a turnkey system from an experienced turnkey integrator, like our company, ensures a smoother deployment, saving both time and money.
V. Schedule a Factory Walkthrough & Automation Audit
To avoid Frank’s fate, start by scheduling a walkthrough with a reliable partner. Many automation providers, including ours, offer free site visits to:
- Identify High-Impact Tasks: Look for repetitive, dull, or dangerous jobs.
- Evaluate Difficulty: Determine whether vision systems, conveyors, or bowl feeders are needed.
- Rank Applications by Payback and Pain: Focus on low difficulty, high ROI, and painful bottlenecks.
Following this walkthrough, you’ll receive an automation audit report ranking all potential cobot applications based on Implementation Difficulty, Estimated Payback, and Client Pain. This helps prioritize projects and minimize the chance of your cobot becoming a shelf ornament.
VI. Avoid Scope Creep
Scope creep is when you start adding more tasks or features mid-project—like inspection steps or complex feeders—that weren’t part of the initial plan. While these extras can be valuable, they also increase complexity, cost, and installation time.
Pro Tip: Lock down the project scope early, deploy quickly, and collect on the ROI sooner. You can always expand or upgrade the system once you have one successful cobot cell running.
VII. Four Key Factors for Deciding Your Deployment Approach
When choosing between D.I.Y., lean integrators, and traditional integrators, consider these four key factors:
- Project Urgency
- Time-to-market can dictate whether you need a faster, turnkey solution or if you can afford a D.I.Y. approach.
- In-House Resources
- Do you have an automation engineer or robot champion? If not, a turnkey or hybrid solution may be more realistic.
- Project Scope
- Large or complex projects often benefit from traditional integrators, while smaller ones fit lean integrators or D.I.Y..
- Project Risk
- High risk (downtime, cost overruns) suggests you might need an experienced integrator. Lower risk projects are more approachable in-house.
VIII. Conclusion & Next Steps
The cobot you purchase should never end up collecting dust like Frank’s. By addressing part presentation, starting small, and choosing the right level of support, you can significantly increase your odds of a successful first deployment.
- Schedule a Factory Walkthrough: Get professional insight into your processes and bottlenecks.
- Conduct an Automation Audit: Compare tasks based on implementation difficulty, payback, and pain to find your best starting point.
- Manage Scope & Stay Lean: Focus on a small-scale success first. Rapid deployment leads to faster ROI and momentum.
Don’t let your cobot become a cautionary tale. With a structured approach and the Lean Robotics framework in mind, you can turn your automation dreams into reality—and keep your collaborative robot where it belongs: on the production floor, generating value every day.
