🤖 Efficient intralogistics: How AMR and cobots eliminate downtime and unnecessary walking
🔹 Introduction: Stop wasting time
Intralogistics – the flow of materials and goods within a company – is often the invisible but most expensive bottleneck in the entire production process. CNC operators wait for materials, warehouse workers spend their shifts pushing carts, and finished products pile up at the end of the line. All of this is a waste of time, money, and human energy.
Traditional logistics relied on fixed conveyors or expensive AGVs. Today, there is a flexible solution that can adapt to dynamic environments – thanks to the combination of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and Collaborative Robotic Arms (cobots).
🔹 Main part: AMR and Koboti – The perfect logistics duo
Effective intralogistics is based on two pillars: mobile transport and precise handling.
1. First pillar: Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) – Mobility
The AMR robot is a smarter, safer and more flexible alternative to old AGV carts.
Mobile transportation solution: AMR trucks move through halls without magnetic strips. Using sensors and AI technology, they map the space themselves and can cleverly avoid obstacles (pallets, people).
Benefit: Eliminate downtime. AMR works like a "taxi." It brings material to the CNC machine at the exact time without the operator having to interrupt work. This dramatically increases the efficiency of expensive production equipment.
Flexibility: Changing the route takes just minutes and is done by editing in the software.
2. Second pillar: Collaborative robot (Cobot) – Manipulation
At fixed points – in the warehouse, at the machine or on the packaging line – cobots take over the work.
Picking: A cobot equipped with a camera system and artificial intelligence performs Bin Picking – it selects chaotically stacked parts from boxes or crates and loads them into the next process.
Packaging and Palletizing: Palletizing robots at the end of the logistics chain lift finished boxes, stack them on a pallet, and handle the hardest and least favorite physical work.
Machine operation: The cobot at the CNC or press loads parts, ensuring that the machine runs non-stop.
Synergy: Mobile Cobot (AMR + Arm)
The highest level of automation is the mobile cobot. The robotic arm is mounted directly on the AMR cart.
Function: The mobile cobot not only brings in the material, but also picks it from the warehouse, transports it and loads it into the machine. This creates a 100% autonomous logistics and production cell.
🔹 Key benefits for the company
Investments in AMR and cobots in intralogistics pay off primarily by eliminating inefficiency:
- Increased efficiency (OEE) : Expensive machines run 24/7 because the material always arrives on time.
- Addressing the shortage of people : Skilled workers are moving from walking and lifting to operating systems.
- Error reduction : Automatic picking and packing eliminate human error.
- Fast ROI : Thanks to downtime savings and full flexibility, the ROI for AMR and simple palletizing cells often ranges between 12 and 24 months.
🔹 Recommended solutions and components
The following components are key to building an effective intralogistics network:
- Handling arms: Universal Robots or Dobot for palletizing, machine operation and picking.
- AMR platforms: AMR carts with different load capacities (from 100 kg to 1500 kg).
- Smart grippers: OnRobot VGP20 for gripping boxes or RG2 Dual for precise loading into production cells.
🔹 Conclusion: Logistics that moves itself
Intralogistics no longer has to be an expensive and rigid maze. By combining intelligent mobility (AMR) and precision handling (cobots), you create an autonomous and flexible system that ensures a smooth flow of materials from the shelf to the dispatch. Stop paying people to walk, let them pay for skilled work.
Do you want to optimize material flow in your production? Visit svet-robotu.cz and discuss with us how to combine mobile robotics and handling in your operation.