Grand View Research projected that the global cobot market size, valued at an estimated $2.14 billion in 2024, would grow by 31.6% by 2030. Such an expansion looks to normalize the idea of industrial robots working alongside humans.
While this shift presents multiple opportunities, it also requires careful planning by manufacturers to ensure safety and smooth integration.
In this interview with Manufacturing.net, NexCOBOT General Manager Jenny Shern explores how companies can navigate this transformation and what corners cannot afford to be cut.
Manufacturing.net (Mnet): How can manufacturers integrate robots into the workforce without sacrificing safety?
Jenny Shern (JS): Manufacturers must focus on three key aspects, comprehensive planning, selecting the right technology and adhering to international safety standards.
Before deployment, a thorough risk assessment is essential to identify potential hazards. Key safety technologies include vision systems, laser scanners, AI-powered monitoring systems and safety controllers embedded within robots.
Finally, workforce safety training is crucial. Educating employees on robot operation and hazard awareness helps prevent accidents and fosters a strong safety culture in automated environments.
Mnet: What corners are manufacturers cutting when it comes to industrial robotics safety?
JS: While industrial robots and cobots offer significant productivity and efficiency benefits, some manufacturers may cut corners in safety due to cost pressures, lack of awareness or time constraints. This can lead to rushed or incomplete safety assessments, failing to properly test emergency stop functions and bypassing critical risk evaluations.
Some manufacturers may also fail to deploy cobots with the appropriate safety sensors for their specific work environment or disable built-in safety features to increase productivity. Additionally, neglecting proper speed and force calibration can increase the risk of unsafe interactions between cobots and their human colleagues.
Employee safety training is another area often overlooked, with workers not being properly educated on safe interaction with cobots. An overreliance on automation without human oversight can lead to dangerous situations where malfunctions go unnoticed until an accident occurs, potentially resulting in employee injury.
Ultimately, prioritizing comprehensive safety protocols such as regular inspections, proper training and ensuring cobot safety settings are correctly maintained is essential to mitigating these risks and ensuring a secure work environment.
Mnet: What are some examples of cobots positively influencing industrial settings?
JS: There are numerous examples of cobots enhancing efficiency, improving safety and reducing physical strain on workers. For instance, safety-certified cobots work side by side with human workers, taking on repetitive tasks like assembly, pick and place and sorting. By automating these processes, cobots help improve efficiency and reduce strain-related injuries.
They can also be deployed in hazardous environments that pose risks to human workers, such as areas with high temperatures, exposure to toxic materials or heavy machinery.
For instance, in the electronics industry, cobots assist with precise component placement, which minimizes errors. In logistics, they streamline warehouse operations by automating packing and palletizing, ensuring faster order fulfillment while allowing human workers to focus on higher-value tasks.
Mnet: Which industries stand to benefit the most from successful robot integration?
JS: Not only can robots increase production efficiency, but they also reduce quality issues by ensuring precision and consistency in tasks like assembly, welding and inspection. Logistics and warehousing is another key application, with robots performing pick and place, load/unload and efficient material handling, optimizing supply chain operations and reducing fulfillment times.
Some other applications include healthcare and agriculture/food processing. In healthcare, robots can assist with surgical procedures, automate lab work and support patient care through rehabilitation and telemedicine applications. In agriculture and food processing, robots improve efficiency by automating tasks like harvesting, sorting and packaging, ensuring higher yields and food safety while addressing labor shortages.
—
Jenny Shern, general manager at NexCOBOT, is responsible for managing the company’s sales and business strategy, robotic and motion control product development and project deployment. Shern specializes in building strategic partnerships and business development in IoT automation, robotics and retail sectors. She previously worked at NEXCOM from 2005 to 2018, where she led sales teams in building global channel network and multi-national automation key account customers. In 2018, NexCOBOT spun off from NEXCOM IoT Automation Solutions Business Group, focusing on providing open robotic and machine control systems for industrial and collaborative robot applications. Its offerings include the modular building blocks of a full-fledged industrial control system, ranging from robot controller, NexMotion Studio software configuration tool, 3D simulation software, teach pendant and human-machine UI.