As Factory 4.0 continues to transform the modern production landscape, manufactures are embracing automation at ever-increasing rates. As of 2023, 88% of welds in an average car are done by a robot, with that number only set to increase as robotics technology allows for more complicated tasks to be automated. But it’s not the only thing that’s on the rise. Vehicle recall is at an all-time high, with 2022 data showing over 1,000 separate recall incidences affecting 13 million units globally—and missing or improper welding is an all-to-common cause. It’s a curious contradiction, and one that has left manufacturing professionals around the world scratching their heads. Embracing automation was supposed help you produce higher quality products with less money spent. So what exactly is going on?
The answer isn’t in found the robots themselves, and nor is it with the engineers. In fact, you might not find it anywhere on the factory floor. It’s missing: Missing data, missing communication channels, missing documentation—and if not kept in check, it can result in production issues like missing welds. As factories employ increasing amounts of robots and automated processes, the amount of data involved in production also increases. Data inevitably gets lost. Existing solutions or in-house workaround for process visualization are rudimentary at best, and there may not adequate documentation available.
Personnel issues can cause similar problems, even as tasks are increasingly diverted to automated solutions. Operations become too complicated even for experienced technicians to understand, leaving critical systems reliant on the knowledge of a handful of experts. Meanwhile, contracted work can result in problems at handover and issues of accountability.
When these issues compound, it leads to real problems on the factory floor. Maintenance becomes more time consuming and expensive, all while production quality decreases. These are problems with tangible consequences. Lose track of weld parameter data, for example, and you may be faced with missing or misplaced welds on finished parts. The numbers add up, with over 20 billion dollars wasted every year on vehicle recall across the industry. The damage to your brand’s reputation is immeasurable—and that’s why we’ve come up with the solution.
RoboLive® is a software solution specially created to help manufactures take control of their industrial robots. With a complete set of modular tools built around a powerful Process Visualization core, RoboLive® combines features like Path Calibration and Vehicle-0 Determination into a convenient source of truth for QA and maintenance operations. Developed with and for some of the largest automotive manufactures in the world, RoboLive® is a tried-and-true solution for the commissioning, analysis, and quality assurance of robotic production processes. And with features like our new Report Dashboard, you can see at a glance just how much RoboLive® is helping you save.
Our team’s driving mission is to help manufacturers embrace and benefit from the changes that Factory 4.0 is bringing to the production landscape. That’s why we created RoboLive®—and why we’re constantly developing, improving, and the software solution that will change the way you interact with your industrial robots. Live demonstrations and custom consultations are available on request, so reach out to our team today and follow our LinkedIn page for latest updates.
