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 an easy inquiry, however the reply is much 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 value 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 choice and unlocks the true worth of automation. Let’s break it down so you possibly can see how shortly a cobot pays for itself.
As with many merchandise, the price of cobots varies extensively. This variability will be in comparison with one thing corresponding to the worth of a automobile. Simply as a fundamental economic system automobile will be bought for just a few thousand {dollars}, whereas high-end luxurious fashions can value tens of hundreds, cobots additionally are available varied value factors.
Usually 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 automobile wants gas, upkeep, and a driver to function, a cobot wants extra parts to perform in an industrial setting. This results in an important second consideration: the price of all the cobot system, not simply the arm itself.
Cobot System Prices: What’s Included?
While you’re budgeting for automation, it’s necessary 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 components, together with:
- Finish-Effector: That is the a part of the system that interacts with the product, corresponding 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 would possibly require customized programming to perform in your particular setting, or, in some circumstances, you could want a specialised interface to assist the cobot work together together with your current programs.
For those who’re choosing a turnkey system the place all the things is pre-packaged and able to go, the price of a cobot system will be fairly affordable.
Nonetheless, in case your software requires a extra custom-made resolution, the fee can escalate shortly. In these circumstances, 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 Concerns
One of many greatest elements that may improve the price of a cobot system is customized engineering. If in case you 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 may come at a premium. Customized options additionally are inclined to have longer lead occasions, that means you’ll must plan forward for the potential delays in getting your system up and working. Moreover, customized programs would possibly face reliability challenges since they typically incorporate distinctive parts that haven’t been mass-produced or totally examined over time.
That being stated, a customized resolution could also be crucial for sure duties, and in these circumstances, the elevated funding may yield invaluable 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 concentrate on 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 think about to evaluate whether or not the automation venture is definitely worth the funding.
To calculate ROI, 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 some other prices associated to the operation. You must also issue within the annual output of the road, each by way of income and gross revenue. This may present a baseline for evaluating the prices earlier than and after automation.
Upon getting 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 corresponding to line modifications, downtime, and extra infrastructure prices. You should utilize our Lean Robotics ROI calculator as a software to estimate the ROI of a cobot in your manufacturing unit flooring.
The Payback Interval
Usually, firms take a look at the payback interval over a five-year horizon. The payback interval is the time it can take for the financial savings generated by the cobot system to equal the preliminary funding.
For instance, some producers have seen excessive ROI circumstances, corresponding 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 allows important will increase in manufacturing output or when gross margins are excessive.
The Price of Inaction
Whereas calculating ROI is necessary, producers additionally want to think about the price of inaction. For those who resolve to not spend money on cobot automation, you could proceed going through rising 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 rivals who’ve adopted automation.
In lots of industries, the stress to scale back prices and improve output is barely 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 plain monetary advantages, cobots additionally provide intangible benefits that may have a major affect on your online business. These embody:
- Diminished Ergonomic Dangers: Cobot programs can tackle repetitive, bodily demanding duties, lowering the chance of damage to your employees and bettering office security.
- Worker Morale & Retention: By automating repetitive duties, you enable your staff to concentrate on higher-value work, which might enhance job satisfaction and morale.
- Flexibility and Scalability: Cobot programs are extremely versatile and may simply be reprogrammed for brand spanking new duties or scaled to satisfy elevated demand. This makes them supreme for companies that must adapt shortly to altering market circumstances.
- Enhanced Buyer Notion: Many companies discover that prospects admire seeing automation in motion, which alerts innovation and a forward-thinking method.
Able to spend money on a cobot?
Talking with an skilled can present invaluable insights to make sure you make the correct selections to your automation wants. Our specialists will help you assess your objectives, perceive the technical capabilities of cobots, and information you thru the method of choosing and integrating the most effective resolution to your operations.
