One useful application of mobile robots in lean production is in increasing the efficiency of internal logistics. Kanban or nameplate systems are an essential system in many lean operations, providing a signal for tracking inventory needs. With mobile robots, kanban cards or bins can essentially transport themselves efficiently throughout the plant, freeing workers to remain at more important tasks. As more manufacturers begin to realize the benefits of mobile robots, vendors like Mobile Industrial Robots (MIR) are reaping increased sales.
MiR recently announced a second year of 160 percent revenue growth in 2018, a target the company established after accomplishing the same growth rate in 2017. The company’s success results, in large part, from MiR’s multinational customers. For example, Toyota Motor Corporation is investing in fleets of mobile robots to optimize internal logistics and to gain competitive advantages in the production and supply chain. Thirty percent of MiR’s 2018 sales come from the Americas (27 percent in the United States and 3 percent in Latin America).
According to Thomas Visti, CEO of MiR, many customers try one mobile robot at first, before investing in fleets spread across multiple plants. “Some go on to purchase as many as 15 to 25 MiR robots at a time,” he said. “Our robots make it easy for these companies to follow the increasing shift to a mass-customization model, where they manufacture a higher number of customized products in smaller batches, requiring an agile production facility with flexible and easily adaptable logistics.”
One example is the automotive technology company Faurecia.
Strategic Collaboration with Faurecia to Optimize Internal Logistics Globally
MiR recently announced a global strategic collaboration with Faurecia to deploy AMRs in manufacturing plants worldwide to take the company’s automation to a new level.
Faurecia has investigated and tested different solutions for automating its inhouse transportation for years in order to optimize productivity and internal workflows and hereby gain competitive advantages. The company has now partnered with MiR to rethink the internal logistics in Faurecia’s production sites globally and make their logistics processes more efficient via flexible, autonomous mobile robots.
“We have entered into this strategic partnership with MiR because it has the capacity and extensive knowledge to support us in streamlining and optimizing our logistics operations,” said Eric Moreau, VP Supply Chain & Digital Enterprise, Faurecia Clean Mobility Business Group. “MiR already has a proven technology, and many of the worlds’ largest multinational companies are using its robots to increase logistics efficiency. We generally have a high level of automation, but material handling has until now been a challenge, and we see a huge potential in automating logistics.”
“We are continuously adjusting our facility layouts to meet the demand for a high number of smaller batch sizes in our production,” Moreau added. “This needs to be supported by our intralogistics systems, and that requires a high level of flexibility. This is offered by MiR, since its autonomous mobile robots do not need any guidance to navigate other than their own internal map that can easily be updated.”
MiR offers a range of collaborative and autonomous mobile robots that are designed to work alongside their human colleagues, to relieve them from physically strenuous work and to redeploy them for more valuable tasks. The mobile robots are designed to be user-friendly and can be operated without prior programming experience. Employees interact with the robots via smartphone, tablet, or personal computer interface, and send them on their missions with a push of a button. The simple operation results in easy deployment and low total cost of ownership.
The robots can be customized with different top modules depending on the customers’ needs.
“The mobile robots from MiR have the ability to not just transport goods but also to combine other process steps such as loading and unloading in order to increase the overall efficiency of an entire production line,” Moreau added. “The mobile cobots are extremely flexible, and we have already identified several different applications where the mobile robots from MiR can take over the monotonous task of transporting goods both within the production lines and between production and warehouse and thereby drive efficiencies.”
Growth from New Products and New “Robots as a Service” Offering
In 2018, MiR launched the MiR500 robot, which can pick-up, transport, and deliver pallets. “In 2019, we’ll continue to focus on delivering solutions that companies are requesting,” said Visti. “That means we’ll also support companies that are used to leasing equipment such as electric forklifts and AGVs by starting a new ‘mobile robots as a service program’ via our external partners. Now we can lower the initial investment required to make it easier and more attractive for these companies to get started with our collaborative autonomous mobile robots.”
Logistics Robots on the Rise
The latest figures from International Federation of Robotics (IFR) show that sixty three percent of the total service robots for professional use that were sold in 2017 were logistics robots, and IFR expects the sales of logistics robots to increase to about 600,000 units between 2018 and 2021.
“In general, we see a great potential in the automotive industry, which is adopting advances in autonomous technology more rapidly than most other industries,” said Visti.
“The plant setups of today are agile and highly dynamic, and people, equipment, pallets and other obstacles can appear in what used to be open passageways,” Visti added. “Our mobile robots fit these ever-changing environments particularly well. With the collaborative, autonomous navigation of our robots, the automated material transportation becomes flexible and easily adaptable without additional cost or disruption to processes.”
For more on mobile robots, check out our video Robots on the Move: KUKA Autonomous Mobile Robots Can Drive Around a Factory. (This link will take you to our YouTube page.)