Cobot Luciano has finally “woken up”

In two years, the story (and the accounts) of Trutorq Italy have turned around.
As in many life stories, there is a before and an after.
In 2013, Angelo, with a healthy desire to see his Trutorq Italia grow, invested in the purchase of a collaborative robot that could work side by side with technicians and workers without barriers, being lightweight and flexible.

The aim was to:
Decrease the cycle time for various phases, as compared to the time taken by the operator, particularly in the final testing phase essential for verifying the 100% compliance of the assemblies.
Relocate a person from the assembly line to tasks of higher added value.
It is necessary to prepare for the introduction of a collaborative robot
However, once Luciano (that’s the name they gave him) arrived in Rovato, he didn’t find his place in the company. An assembly island with a rotating platform and four stations was planned, and he was supposed to be placed in the center to focus on greasing components. After a more careful analysis of the process, it was realized that this did not optimize the workflow, and as a result, Luciano was stored back in his box.
Luciano's awakening: Ergonit's proposal
Trutorq decided subsequently to automate the loading and unloading operations of the gear-cutting machine, identified as the production bottleneck.
However, the company Trutorq initially approached suggested solutions that were not well-aligned with the actual needs of the SME, leading to high implementation costs. This is where Ergonit comes into play. Through a thorough analysis of workflow, they managed to create an ergonomic machine tailored to the company’s real needs, placing Luciano at the center of the project.
Redesigning the collaborative robot to meet company needs
Ergonit’s primary goal was to increase daily production while containing costs. Thanks to the “recovery” project of the cobot, we were able to:
Make the machine teding autonomous for several hours;
Process the parts produced during the two daytime shifts, eliminating the stock of semi-finished products;
Implement automation that adapted to the company’s layout without increasing the footprint;
Design components that could be processed internally by the company, significantly reducing the living expenses for the completion of the system.
What has our intervention ensured?

Overall improvement in the production cycle times for both night and day shifts

Reduction in the time spent on the loading/unloading phase

Elimination of a monotonous and repetitive operation