Robotics Archives - USC Consulting Group

The manufacturing industry keeps society ticking, but it consists of people. As technology advances, using it to improve worker safety reigns paramount, protecting the individuals who move the machines that create the products society uses daily. Keeping abreast of the latest developments to improve industrial health and safety helps owners and managers improve working conditions and processes.

Such improvements span every aspect of the industrial process, from producing the products to warehousing them and delivering them to customers. Responsible parties can draw inspiration from the innovations below to improve industrial hygiene and safety for a healthier and happier workforce.

Warehousing Procedures

Warehouses combine multiple workers and machines in a single small space, increasing the risk of accidents. Injuries can result from equipment misuse, failure to follow safety procedures or overuse stemming from repetitive motions. For example, approximately half of all workers at certain warehouses experience an injury within their first three years. Facilities have begun to implement the following innovations to decrease accident risk.

1. Warehouse Management Systems

These advanced computer programs boost efficiency by optimizing travel routes and times to streamline picking and putting away procedures. They can prevent “traffic jams” in aisles and decrease fall risk by keeping moving equipment like forklifts out of areas where workers are using ladders or scaffolding.

2. Robotics

Robots reduce repetitive motion injuries by taking some of the heavy lifting off human hands. Additionally, they can reduce fall risk by retrieving items on high shelves. Such technology also empowers warehouse managers to make better use of vertical space instead of increasing their facility’s footprint.

3. Appropriate Safety Gear

Relying on workers to supply PPE can result in the most vulnerable going without or investing in inferior protection to meet company requirements. Providing gloves, facial protection, hearing protection, steel-toed boots and reflective vests protects workers against sudden traumatic injuries while reducing some of the wear and tear of daily work on their physical selves.

Lockout/Tagout

Lockout/tagout procedures protect against electrocution and other traumatic events, such as crushing injuries when a piece of equipment goes down and multiple workers must coordinate their efforts to correct the problem. OSHA guidelines cover proper measures for controlling energy from electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical and thermal sources. Compliance with these standards saves an estimated 120 lives yearly.

Here, too, technological improvements enhance worker safety. For example, video surveillance ensures workers apply the appropriate lockout devices to equipment before service work begins. Sensors can alert workers to energy remaining trapped in the system or sound the alarm if a stray body part enters the restricted area. Improved equipment testing ensures refurbished equipment meets lockout regulation standards before operators put it to use.

Heavy Equipment

Improvements in heavy equipment also increase safety in industrial environments. Electric forklifts produce fewer emissions than previous models, sparing workers’ lungs, and their narrower bodies and smaller turning radius prevent accidental collisions in crowded warehouses. They’re also quieter, reducing noise pollution. Approximately 18% of industrial workers have a hearing impairment, which lowers their life quality and may increase dementia risk.

Forklifts aren’t the only heavy equipment going electric. Many facilities have begun to outfit their organization with full electric fleets, and even bulldozers are joining this technical revolution. Electric vehicles typically have less complicated engines, leading to fewer malfunctions and opportunities for injuries to occur as crews scramble to find workarounds.

Fall Prevention

Falls from heights are the number one cause of workplace death in the UK and lag behind only transportation and workplace violence in the United States. The term “fall from height” is somewhat misleading, as many of the fatalities involved falls from lower levels, not towering skyscraper beams.

Improved safety technology and procedures work in tandem to prevent falls. For example, requiring harnesses for work involving ladders and scaffolding can reduce the risk of injury if the standing structure falls or an accidental bump sends it tumbling. Providing additional training is another safeguard, as advances in computer technology allow workers to remediate as needed instead of waiting for a single group training to refresh their knowledge.

Worker State of Mind

Improvements in technology won’t go as far as they can in increasing industrial hygiene and safety without the buy-in of the workers running operations. One of the simplest yet most effective methods of bringing up safety scores is to simply slow down. While this mindset goes against the obsession with productivity and metrics typical of many facilities, it’s a rebalancing of modern reality with human ability.

Consider an experiment on seminary students asked to give a speech on “The Good Samaritan” parable. Researchers told one group their participants were already waiting, creating a hurry. The second group was told they had just enough time, and the third was told they had more than enough. Even given the topic of the speech, only 10% of the hurried participants stopped to render aid to someone in need as they crossed campus, while 63% of the unhurried students paused.

Technology has increased overall productivity but has also added responsibilities for workers without a corresponding drop in working hours or adequate time to absorb new information and procedures. Exhaustion and burnout can lead to mistakes that cause injuries and cost lives.

Recent legislation to shorten the average workweek, if passed, could reduce the burnout many feel, improving workplace safety. In the meantime, site leaders can emphasize quality over quantity and stress safety over metrics in determining raises and bonuses to decrease the temptation to cut corners to make numbers.

Improving Industrial Hygiene and Safety

Workplace injuries cost countless lives and disrupt operations. Improving industrial hygiene and safety demonstrates a commitment to a strong, healthy and thriving workforce.

Site owners and supervisors should periodically review the latest updates to improve their operations. Keeping workers safe decreases liability, enhances workflow and results in a happier, more productive environment.

* This article is written by Jack Shaw. Jack is a seasoned automotive industry writer with over six years of experience. As the senior writer for Modded, he combines his passion for vehicles, manufacturing and technology with his expertise to deliver engaging content that resonates with enthusiasts worldwide.

Industrial and collaborative robots have had a tremendous impact on the automotive industry, changing the standards for production, quality control and safety. In assembly, they have permanently shifted how workers and plant managers interact with machinery.

The State of Robots and Cobots in the Automotive Sector

Industrial and collaborative robots are foundational to the automotive sector. While they can seem similar at first glance, the two have fundamental differences. Their specialized designs and applications give them each a unique place in the industry.

Of course, industrial robots came first and have become the standard. They brought tremendous value to operations, leading to the automotive industry becoming one of the most mechanized industries. These heavy-duty machines outperform their human counterparts in tasks like material handling and part insertion.

Collaborative robots — often referred to as cobots — are meant to act as support rather than replacements. Their place on the factory floor is directly next to workers since they’re much safer than their industrial counterparts. They excel at precision-based tasks like bin picking, screw-driving and product dispensing.

Although traditional industrial robots have long been the industry standard, cobots have quickly grown in popularity. In the automotive sector alone, their combined global sales value was roughly 3.8 billion in 2022. Both technologies have significantly impacted worker safety, assembly efficiency and production yields.

The Rise of Robots and Cobots

In the automotive sector, the popularity of robotics is plain to see. Industrial robot installation increased by 31% between 2020 and 2021 alone, demonstrating how it has room to expand despite already being an industry staple. What makes this technology so highly sought-after?

Industrial robots have existed for ages and they are reliable. They are what’s known as mature technology, meaning their user base has eliminated most of their faults over the years. This consistency is crucial in the automotive sector, given the complex nature of the assembly line.

Cobots have quickly reached the popularity of industrial robots because they can adapt rapidly and outperform their counterpart regarding safety. Instead of being trapped in cages far away from humans, they work alongside employees on the factory floor. They open up many new opportunities for broadened automation and efficiency improvements.

Although most robot and cobot applications involve automation, worker safety and production capacity improvements have also proven significant. Humans no longer have to lift obscenely heavy objects or work in intense heat because their role requires it. Instead, the machines take over the dirty, complex and challenging tasks.

The Role of Robotics in Automotive Assembly

Robots and cobots have made a substantial impact on automotive assembly. Many factory floors now have humans and machinery working alongside each other instead of separately. Because of this development, plant managers have been able to automate duties they never previously could’ve.

Typically, monotonous manual work takes up most of the workweek. Across various industries, more than 40% of employees spend the majority of their workday on repetitive duties. Although the widespread adoption of industrial robotics has made the automotive sector somewhat of an outlier in this sense, there are still plenty of jobs left to partially or fully automate.

Even if demand changes, manufacturers can use cobots to continue automating whatever they need to. Since these machines are reprogrammable, their duties can adjust depending on a plant’s needs. For example, they could easily switch from bin picking to sealant dispensing to make up for an unexpected job vacancy or a sudden shift in consumer expectations.

Robots also protect the automotive industry from common pain points like labor shortages, human error and assembly line bottlenecks. This development is clearly visible with cobots, considering plant managers can support any manual duty with them and reprogram them at will.

These machines can safeguard production rates even in unforeseen circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the sector significantly, causing unprecedented downtime. More than 50% of automotive companies experienced substantial disruption during this period. If facilities had a combination of robots and cobots, they likely could’ve avoided the effects of the sudden labor shortage.

The Impact of Robotics in Automotive Assembly

With robots and cobots, plant managers can fully or partially automate virtually any position in the assembly line. As a result, they can pursue highly-trained employees with more specialized skills. This development might eventually give rise to product quality improvements.

Robotics has also made labor condition improvements possible. In the past, workers had to do every hazardous or strenuous task by hand. Even with the introduction of industrial robots, they still risked injury and exhaustion. The development of cobots allowed them to work alongside each other.

Most importantly, robotics has vastly improved product yields. While Industrial robots are an industry staple, their large size, operational skill requirements and ability to injure workers hold them back. Cobots closed the gap, allowing plant managers to automate what was left.

Robotics Innovate Automotive Assembly

While cobots have quickly risen in popularity, traditional industrial robots are still vital parts of automotive assembly because they excel in heavy-duty tasks. A combination of both helps maximize efficiency, worker safety and product yields.

*This article is written by Jack Shaw. Jack is a seasoned automotive industry writer with over six years of experience. As the senior writer for Modded, he combines his passion for vehicles, manufacturing and technology with his expertise to deliver engaging content that resonates with enthusiasts worldwide.

When the general public hears the word “warehouse,” they most likely envision a rather low-tech environment. After all, a warehouse is but a large building filled with shelves and boxes, right? That may have been true in the past, but today these facilities are on the cutting edge of technology in a big way.

The demands of e-commerce and the impact it has had on traditional retail have made speed and efficiency absolutely essential. Warehousing is a critical link in the supply chain, and as such it needs to adopt every technological advantage to keep up with consumers’ expectations.

What Warehousing Looks Like Today

Far from the dusty, quiet spaces many people might imagine, the warehouses of today are extremely high-tech environments. They need to be, with thousands of SKUs on the shelves and just as many orders pouring in every day. The technology these operations employ take many forms, from handheld scanners to robotic arms to cloud-based software platforms. What they all have in common, however, is a focus on improving the flow of orders and goods through the supply chain.

For instance, one of the most conspicuous additions to these facilities in recent years is the autonomous vehicle. Driven automatically by computers, these motorized carts and forklifts are now responsible for much of the heavy lifting in many warehouses. Because they don’t require operators and can work around the clock, they have been a crucial factor in improving productivity and efficiency in many buildings.

Another recent development is the introduction of wearable devices that keep personnel connected to a centralized system at all times. One primary example is voice picking, which directs workers to items to be picked through computer-generated verbal instructions delivered over a headset. This results in more efficiency, less paperwork and up-to-the-minute information. Plus, it keeps workers’ hands free to do their jobs more effectively.

Envisioning the Future of Warehouses

As the speed of commerce continues to increase and consumers rely on more online shopping, the need for high-tech solutions in the warehouse is only increasing. Even if most facilities don’t use artificial intelligence or handheld devices right now, that doesn’t mean they won’t.

To learn more about common technologies that are transforming the warehousing industry, take a look at the accompanying infographic. It details some of the most popular and powerful devices and concepts that are expected to have a significant impact now and in the near future.

The Warehouse of the Future from The Numina Group

The future is now in many cases, but if your organization needs a helping hand to affect positive change in your operations please give us a call. We can improve your process efficiency, inventory management, and guide your team into the future.

Tag Archives: Robotics