Company insight


The new assistants in medical device manufacturing: Cobots


Universal Robots is a value-driven company comprised of a diverse team with a united focus. Its mission is to push the boundaries of what’s possible with robotics, including its new class of collaborative robots.


ollaborative robots or ‘cobots’ are a new class of robots that are bridging the gap between fully manual assembly and fully automated manufacturing lines. This has become a critical competitive advantage for small and mid-sized speciality medical device manufacturers, and is helping to fill automation gaps for larger OEMs with processes that couldn’t be cost-effectively automated in the past. In this article, readers will learn how cobots differ from traditional industrial robots and will see how three different medical manufacturers have increased production, improved quality, and reduced costs with collaborative robotics.


C


When small and mid-sized medical device manufacturers envision a robot, many think of either huge industrial robots working in fenced-off areas in large factories or futuristic cyberbots mimicking human behaviour. But between these two scenarios lies a new emerging reality: a class of robots dubbed collaborative robots – or simply cobots – are bridging the gap between fully manual assembly and fully automated manufacturing lines. This new technology is filling automation gaps for larger manufacturers that have processes that couldn’t be cost-effectively automated in the past and is bringing the advantages of automation within reach for even small, speciality manufacturers.


A financial success Based in Lyon, France, Nichrominox is a family-owned company that has manufactured sterilisation equipment for dentists for 40 years and faces growing competition from countries with low


62


labour costs. The company sought to automate a metal-folding application with traditional industrial robots, but soon realised that they did not have the necessary in-house resources to implement this and that the project cost was too high.


Nichrominox now uses four collaborative robots on three separate production lines to automate a bending


cell, feed a CNC machine, and assemble products alongside an operator. The cobots were programmed by an in-house employee, Cédric Lefrancq-Lumiere. “I did not have any programming knowledge, but after only two days of training, I was able to understand and program the robot. Today, I only need one or two hours to program a new task and I’m constantly


With human collaboration in mind, cobots incorporate lightweight materials, rounded joints, back- drivable motors, and innovative force-sensing technology that automatically stops if the robot if it encounters obstacles (or people) in its path.


Medical Device Developments / www.nsmedicaldevices.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170