• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Advertise
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Features list
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsor an article
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Subscribe to Newsletter

Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Editorial Sections A-Z
    • Agriculture
    • Aircraft
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Automation
    • Autonomous Vehicles
    • Business
    • Computing
    • Construction
    • Culture
    • Design
    • Drones
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Engineering
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial robots
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
    • Investments
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Marine
    • Material handling
    • Materials
    • Mining
    • Promoted
    • Research
    • Robotics
    • Science
    • Sensors
    • Service robots
    • Software
    • Space
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • Warehouse robots
    • Wearables
  • Press releases
  • Events

Opinion: Collaborative robots enable effective high-mix, low-volume production

May 7, 2021 by Mai Tao

Oliver Giertz, product manager for servo/motion and robotics for the EMEA region at Mitsubishi Electric, factory automation, explains how collaborative robots are helping manufacturers to increase flexibility, boost quality, and drive down operational costs.

With increased competition, often on a global scale, manufacturers need to differentiate themselves by tailoring products more closely to customer demand.

This, of course, carries with it an implicit reduction in batch sizes and has seen the rise of high-mix, low-volume production.

Collaborative robots, or cobots, can enable manufacturers to effectively meet individual customer requirements with greater product variety in smaller batches.

While high-volume production, with its repetitive tasks, has seen increased adoption of traditional industrial robots, we have to think differently in a high-mix production environment where the programming and reconfiguration effort to change from one product to the next can impact on productivity. In high-mix production, there might be several line changeovers needed in a given shift.

For many manufacturers, this has meant an increased reliance on manual labour. But that, in turn, increases operational costs when compared with high-volume production – and the greater the mix, the higher the emphasis on manual labour, and the greater the production cost for a given volume.

Further, high-mix, low volume (HMLV) production requires more stringent quality control processes to be put in place, with the opportunity for production errors increasing as the batch sizes reduces. At the same time, the levels of changeovers between different products can often become a bottleneck.

However, the new breed of collaborative robots (or cobots) is responding to the trend of HMLV production, delivering the required flexibility and the ability to reconfigure processes quickly as well as easily.

Improved flexibility, consistency and reliability

Designed to assist human operators on the shop floor, cobots can take on simple, repetitive and physically strenuous tasks. This offers improved consistency and reliability in manufacturing while enabling humans to concentrate on more complex jobs.

A cobot is also flexible and can quickly learn to adapt to a variety of tasks, from picking and placing to machine tending.

A key benefit of cobots is their ease of programming, enabling frequent redeployment and fast set-up without advanced robotic programming expertise.

One recent development which can improve the ease and speed of configuration is hand-guided teaching, where the cobot arm is simply moved to the desired position and added to the operational sequence at the press of a button.

This technology means that no complex programming is required, and it can also be combined with touch-screen graphical interfaces to implement more sophisticated operations.

A digital twin can also be used to enhance the speed of set-up and redeployment. Employing a digital representation of the physical cobot, including the virtual capability to evaluate performance, the digital twin can simulate cobot interaction to ensure that it can safely and predictably fulfil the desired task before implementation.

This ease of programming and redeployment is one of the main enablers of HMLV production and holds the key to reducing operational costs. At the same time, the increased accuracy of the latest cobots is an important contributor to improving quality in a high-mix environment.

As an example, Mitsubishi Electric’s Melfa Assista cobots can provide a repeat accuracy of ±0.03mm, making them ideal even for the most delicate and precise tasks.

By moving towards HMLV production, manufacturers are finding that they can differentiate themselves from their competitors, with the ability to tailor products to specific customer requirements, even in the smallest of batches.

Further, with the ability to quickly switch production to a different product, manufacturers can become more responsive to changes in the market, delivering an additional competitive advantage.

Cobots are proving a key enabler for high-mix automation while offering the maximum return on investment. In an HMLV production environment, cobots drive up flexibility and reduce operational costs.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket

Related stories you might also like…

Filed Under: Features, Manufacturing Tagged With: cobot, cobots, costs, flexibility, high-mix, hmlv, increased, manufacturers, operational, product, production, programming, robots, tasks

Primary Sidebar

Search this website

Latest articles

  • Neura Robotics and HD Hyundai partner to bring humanoid robots to shipbuilding
  • Exclusive interview with Vorago Technologies: The risks of failure in home robots
  • MIT engineers design new handheld interface that gives ‘anyone the ability to train a robot’
  • Glīd launches ‘world-first’ unmanned autonomous road-to-rail dual mobility platform
  • A robot renaissance with a human focus: Hexagon’s 2035 vision for intelligent autonomy
  • Automotive testing UTAC embarks on global expansion and upgrade program
  • The evolving role of the human worker alongside cobots: Upskilling and new job creation
  • Enterprise Sales Courses That Help Close Bigger Deals
  • Mitsubishi Electric says its robots are ‘bridging skills gaps’ in automation technology
  • Pusan National University scientists develop ‘game-changing method’ to create safer, long-lasting lithium-ion batteries

Secondary Sidebar

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT