Problem

Our customer had a process and the cycle time needed to be reduced. The robot was originally programmed to pick the part from a pallet. Then moved 8 inches to a verification sensor to verify both that a part had been picked and that the part was in the correct assembly state before starting the process for this station. This maneuver was adding considerable cycle time.

Solution

We observed the process and brainstormed with our customer. We then installed a new sensor, modified the PLC program and modified the robot program. The new sensor was a different type of sensor and able to be set up in such a way that the verification process could happen as soon as the robot picked the part from the pallet.

Outcome

The robot no longer had to travel to and from a verification check location to verify the part status. Instead the new sensor allowed this check to be done immediately after lifting the part which reduced travel time by more than the desired cycle time reduction.