Automation technology and robots are starting to be applied in the manufacturing industry in Indonesia, including automotive, with the start of the current Industry 4.0 era. But how effective are robots and automation applications in improving manufacturing performance?
In its application, robots do not replace the role of humans in the production process in the factory, but to lighten and facilitate the work done. According to Universal Robots as a technology company from Denmark, currently the use of robots in Indonesian industry is only about 5 robots per 10,000 employees.
Universal Robots produces Collaborative Robot (COBOT) which functions to help human tasks become more efficient and effective, especially in manufacturing activities. Apart from automotive, the electronics industry is one of the most widely used technology from Universal Robots.
The presence of robots in the industry is considered by Universal Robots to be able to increase work efficiency and effectiveness, without having to sacrifice human resources to replace their roles.
"If you have a small volume and high mix production here, there is no doubt that collaborative robots with humans will greatly increase the productivity value," said Sakari Kuikka, General Manager of Universal Robots when attending a discussion with automotive media, Thursday (15/8/2019) .
"We have an example of a case in Indonesia that I can't name the company or industry, I recently visited one of our robot users in Indonesia and they have a production line that uses two robots and they keep the number of employees on that line, so there is no reduction in operators or human workers, just an additional two robots.”
Kuikka claims the increased efficiency from the use of robots has been achieved by up to 30 percent, which not only shortens processing time but also saves on raw material consumption than before.
Some jobs are claimed to be more precise and save raw materials when using robots, such as welding, painting, or installing car glass sealers.
“So there are three things; quality is increased, waste is reduced and productivity is better, and these three things if achieved can provide a faster payback for the company,” continued Kuikka.
As a company that has been trusted on a global scale, Kuikka chose to remain closed when asked which manufacturers had used and utilized the technology from Universal Robots in Indonesia.
