When a producer considers implementing automation of their operations, one of many first questions that usually arises is: What’s the price of a cobot? At first look, this looks like a simple inquiry, however the reply is way from easy. Including a cobot to your manufacturing line isn’t simply an expense—it’s a strategic funding in effectivity, consistency, and long-term financial savings.
The worth varies based mostly on the mannequin and options, however with the correct grippers, software program, and setup, a cobot can remodel your operations. Understanding the total value image helps you make an knowledgeable resolution and unlocks the true worth of automation. Let’s break it down so you possibly can see how rapidly a cobot will pay for itself.
As with many merchandise, the price of cobots varies extensively. This variability will be in comparison with one thing akin to the worth of a automotive. Simply as a fundamental financial system automotive will be bought for just a few thousand {dollars}, whereas high-end luxurious fashions can value tens of hundreds, cobots additionally are available in varied worth factors.
Typically talking, the price of a cobot arm can vary from as little as $15,000 for an entry-level Chinese language-made mannequin to upwards of $60,000 for top-of-the-line, high-quality fashions that boast superior reliability and superior options.
Nonetheless, a cobot arm by itself doesn’t do a lot. Simply as a automotive wants gas, upkeep, and a driver to function, a cobot wants extra parts to perform in an industrial setting. This results in a vital second consideration: the price of the complete cobot system, not simply the arm itself.
Cobot System Prices: What’s Included?
While you’re budgeting for automation, it’s essential to acknowledge that the cobot arm is just one a part of the equation. To actually get worth from the cobot, you’ll want extra parts, together with:
- Finish-Effector: That is the a part of the system that interacts with the product, akin to a gripper or suction cup, and its value varies relying on the precise activity.
- Integration & Setup: Relying in your manufacturing line, you could want to change current programs (conveyors, air programs, electrical infrastructure) to accommodate the cobot.
- Software program & Programming: A cobot may require customized programming to perform in your particular setting, or, in some instances, you could want a specialised interface to assist the cobot work together along with your current programs.
If you happen to’re choosing a turnkey system the place the whole lot is pre-packaged and able to go, the price of a cobot system will be fairly cheap.
Nonetheless, in case your software requires a extra custom-made resolution, the price can escalate rapidly. In these instances, the price of engineering experience and the time required to create a tailor-made system can drive the overall value a lot larger.
Customized Options Issues
One of many greatest components that may enhance the price of a cobot system is customized engineering. You probably have a fancy activity that requires particular tooling or specialised modifications to your manufacturing line, you’ll must spend money on engineers to design and implement the answer.
Engineering expertise, notably these skilled with automation programs, is in excessive demand and might come at a premium. Customized options additionally are likely to have longer lead instances, which means you’ll must plan forward for the potential delays in getting your system up and working. Moreover, customized programs may face reliability challenges since they usually incorporate distinctive parts that haven’t been mass-produced or totally examined over time.
That being stated, a customized resolution could also be essential for sure duties, and in these instances, the elevated funding might yield helpful enhancements in effectivity and productiveness.
Nonetheless, in case your activity is comparatively easy, there are numerous off-the-shelf programs that may do the job successfully, maintaining prices down.
What’s the Actual Price of Automation?
When contemplating the price of a cobot system, it’s important to give attention to the overall value of automation, which incorporates each the preliminary funding and ongoing operational bills. That is the place the idea of Return on Funding (ROI) comes into play. ROI is the important thing metric that producers want to contemplate to evaluate whether or not the automation venture is well worth the funding.
To calculate ROI, that you must doc the present value of working your manufacturing line or the precise activity you propose to automate. This contains the labor prices related to working the road, such because the variety of staff wanted, their hourly wages, and every other prices associated to the operation. You also needs to issue within the annual output of the road, each when it comes to income and gross revenue. It will present a baseline for evaluating the prices earlier than and after automation.
After you have the baseline, you possibly can calculate the price of automation. This contains the price of the cobot system itself, in addition to any collateral bills akin to line modifications, downtime, and extra infrastructure prices. You need to use our Lean Robotics ROI calculator as a instrument to estimate the ROI of a cobot in your manufacturing unit flooring.
The Payback Interval
Sometimes, firms take a look at the payback interval over a five-year horizon. The payback interval is the time it’ll take for the financial savings generated by the cobot system to equal the preliminary funding.
For instance, some producers have seen excessive ROI instances, akin to a vaccine producer who recovered a $200,000 funding in simply two months. Whereas that is an distinctive case, it illustrates the potential for fast returns when the system permits vital will increase in manufacturing output or when gross margins are excessive.
The Price of Inaction
Whereas calculating ROI is essential, producers additionally want to contemplate the price of inaction. If you happen to resolve to not spend money on cobot automation, you could proceed going through growing labor prices, rising manufacturing prices, and potential challenges with assembly buyer demand. The price of not automating can eat into your margins over time as labor turns into dearer, and also you’re much less productive than your opponents who’ve adopted automation.
In lots of industries, the strain to cut back prices and enhance output is simply rising. As labor shortages and financial challenges persist, the choice to automate turns into extra pressing. By investing in cobots now, you’re securing your future competitiveness in an more and more automated world.
The Hidden Advantages of Cobot Automation
Past the apparent monetary advantages, cobots additionally supply intangible benefits that may have a major affect on your small business. These embrace:
- Decreased Ergonomic Dangers: Cobot programs can tackle repetitive, bodily demanding duties, decreasing the chance of harm in your staff and bettering office security.
- Worker Morale & Retention: By automating repetitive duties, you enable your staff to give attention to higher-value work, which may enhance job satisfaction and morale.
- Flexibility and Scalability: Cobot programs are extremely versatile and might simply be reprogrammed for brand spanking new duties or scaled to fulfill elevated demand. This makes them ideally suited for companies that must adapt rapidly to altering market circumstances.
- Enhanced Buyer Notion: Many companies discover that clients admire seeing automation in motion, which indicators innovation and a forward-thinking strategy.
Able to spend money on a cobot?
Talking with an knowledgeable can present helpful insights to make sure you make the correct choices in your automation wants. Our specialists will help you assess your targets, perceive the technical capabilities of cobots, and information you thru the method of choosing and integrating the most effective resolution in your operations.
