Cobot- The Ultimate Worker Assistant

Cobots support workers in managing production processes quickly and efficiently.

FREMONT, CA: What is a Cobot?

A cobot is technically called a Collaborative robot and is used to help humans in industrial settings. Cobots support workers in managing production processes quickly and efficiently. These robots are not taking over the workers' jobs but supporting them with automation enhancements that curb physical stress on the workers and allow them to concentrate on more creative tasks.

Even though Cobots make up only three percent of the robot sales, the International Federation predicts that the transactions may achieve up to 34% of the robots market in the coming years. Likewise, another study on the collaborative robotics sector indicates an increase of ten-fold in five years, surpassing a budget of $1 billion.

The cobot is an assistant—a robotic arm—to the human worker, handling greater weights, working at a higher speed, and even moving at angles that the human hands cannot replicate. The cobot performs tasks allotted to it by the managing worker, including duties that are too complicated, dangerous, or require much precision than a worker can handle alone.

The combination of humans and robots can make efficient time usage to get the work done.

Cobots in the Supply Chain

The significant increase in the utilization of cobots results from several factors.

These include:

• Easy implementation (compared to robots)

• Programming cobots is simple.

• Potential to do said work in real-time and at scale

• Releasing humans for more intellectual and high-value tasks

The most general use of the cobot is pick-to-cart processes. As cobots pick up 200 units per hour, whereas humans could only pick up 90 units per hour, the simple movement causes the increased productivity of manufacturing processes by cobots. In addition, the process is easy for the cobots as:

• Saves relative travel time between two product areas

• Huddles up items for delivery to successive links

• Enables hands-free packing as the colleague doesn't need a scanner

With increasing benefits and reductions in packing errors, the cobot is a compatible tool to fight the shortage of highly expert warehouse workers. Cobots in wide industrial facilities handle heavy parcels and reduce human travel time while bringing pickers to the next level.