Cobot Automation

There’s going to be a shortage of 400,000 welders in the U.S. by 2024. Robotic automation is going to be key for the welding industry going forward. One useful tool that can simplify future welding processes is collaborative welding robots, also known as cobots. CK Supply offers cobot welding solutions that can streamline your business’s welding processes.

Is Finding Welders a Struggle?

There is a severe lack of welders in the U.S. that gets worse every day. The American Welding Society estimates the average age of a welder to be 57 years old. There just aren’t enough new welders coming into the industry that can fill their shoes when the time comes. This is predicted to lead to a shortage of 400,000 welders by 2024.

This shortage is forcing manufacturers to increase productivity through automation. While this sounds great, most forms of welding automation are expensive, complicated, and risky. Traditional robotic welding solutions are a big gamble. They’re expensive, bulky, require extensive set-up time, and are a pain to get delivered.

While huge corporations can bear the costs of traditional welding solutions, the smaller shops that make up 75% of America’s 250,000+ manufacturers have been left behind. That’s why we’re proud to offer the most convenient tool for welding automation available today—cobots!

What Are Cobots?

Collaborative welding bots, or cobots, are small industrial robots that can help your welding team out. Cobots are handy tools that can be used for a huge variety of manufacturing applications, including:

  • Arc Welding
  • Assembly
  • Machine Tending
  • Packaging

Cobots aren’t just versatile, they’re incredibly accurate. Cobots’ technology makes sure that your welding processes are the same every time, giving you a final product that’s more consistent and of higher quality. Cobots are a necessity for small-to-medium welding shops that are looking to stay competitive into the future.

How Cobots Can Help Your Business:

Cobot automation is crucial to keeping your welding business prepared for the future.

Increase Productivity

Is fulfilling orders a struggle? Stop relying entirely on manual welding processes. Cobot automation can keep your welding processes extremely fast without compromising on weld quality. Cobots take your repetitive welding tasks and can handle them the entire day without breaks.

Your workers are better used on tasks that require their expertise. Let your cobot welders take the load off of your workers and let them handle some of the repetitive tasks that welding entails.

Higher Quality Welds

Even though you have a team of extremely skilled welders, they can’t be as consistent as machines can. There’s no shortage of factors that affect your human welders quality: fatigue, mood, or physical health include a few. A cobot can do tasks at the same level of quality 24/7. This consistency means that your welding processes are going to be more uniform, creating a better product.

Save Money

While cobots do have an upfront cost that manual welders don’t, they save huge amounts of money in the long run. Cobots can be programmed to handle a huge variety of tasks in and around your business. Whether you need help with morning welds or afternoon packaging, a cobot flexes to your needs. Whatever the need, a cobot is there to help. Cobot automation is also cost effective. This precision means that they’ll use materials much more efficiently, which leads to even further cost savings.

Safety

Traditional robotic welding systems require safeguarding equipment like safety fencing, area scanners, mats, and more. Cobot systems are designed to be completely safe around humans without any barriers. They typically have built-in sensors that sense people and objects, and slow or stop their operation when they enter their work area.

Cobots can even be safer than human welders for repetitive tasks. We tend to “zone out” when doing repetitive tasks for hours on end to help our brains cope. This response is extremely dangerous—half-asleep workers are the last thing you want when dangerous welding equipment is involved. Invest in cobot automation to keep your workers safe.

Save Space

When compared to traditional robotic automation methods, cobots are extremely space efficient. Not only are cobots more compact than other robotic solutions, they also cut out the need for safeguarding equipment. This means that cobots are a space-conscious solution to your welding needs.

Flexibility

Cobots automation is extremely flexible because of their small size. Cobots can easily be moved around, unlike traditional robot welders. Is a cobot suddenly in the way? No problem, just move it! Do you need a cobot in another part of your facility? Go ahead and take it over! Cobots are extremely easy to move around, meaning that they can help you out wherever you need them.

Our Cobot Solutions

CK Supply offers cobots from these industry-leading cobot manufacturers:

  • Vectis
  • Lincoln Electric
  • Fanuc

With 70+ years of experience, CK Supply has had the opportunity to partner with the highest-quality cobot manufacturers. These robot manufacturers are reputable, so you know you’re getting quality cobot solutions.

Choose CK for Your Cobot Automation Needs

CK Supply can handle it all. Whether you need cobot automation, welding supplies, gases, or dry ice, we’re here to help. CK Supply has over 70 years of experience and is entirely family owned and operated. We offer the highest caliber of service and expertise, meaning that your needs will always be satisfied.

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