Cobot use in the assembly area

© Omron

It is a fact that there is a shortage of skilled workers in production facilities. A BCG survey conducted in seven countries in spring 2022 found that employers are at risk of losing up to 37% of their employees who do not have a typical desk job but work in production, maintenance or service in the next six months. Almost a third of these employees are already planning to leave the company where they are currently employed. Young employees and part-time workers in particular can well imagine a change. Companies that cannot find a replacement therefore need to rethink processes and use technologies that can take over manual work - the keyword here is automation. But how can such investments be financed? Is buying or leasing better?

The most important thing to start with: cobots offer low investment costs and a quick ROI, which makes them more attractive than traditional industrial robots. They also have a wider range of applications in industry, as they are easier to use for different activities and can be designed and implemented more quickly than conventional robots. Key areas of application include material handling, assembly and disassembly, welding and soldering, dispensing, processing and others.

Here are a few ideas and tips:

1. it is easier to weigh up an investment against the product costs. For example, if you rent a cobot for 100,000 euros for three years and know that 8,640,000 products have to be manufactured during this time, you can do the math: It takes five seconds to manufacture one product, 20 hours per day, 200 days per year. Then the investment per product is 1 cent. The investment in a cobot is therefore significantly lower than many people assume.

2. the total investment costs usually correspond approximately to the average annual salary of a production employee. Based on this calculation, the investment can pay for itself within a year or less.

3) SMEs in particular are often reluctant to purchase a cobot because they are concerned about budget, cash flow, capex or lengthy project approvals. Leasing can be a good alternative here, as cash flow or seasonal fluctuations are not an issue. Leasing offers additional flexibility, so that smaller companies can also benefit from the advantages of automation through cobots. Leasing also falls under operating expenses: the cobot is paid off monthly and investments can be better monitored and planned.

4. if the leasing contract also includes maintenance and service, it is easier and clearer to keep the cobot fleet up to date and running without having to plan for additional costs. In addition, the cobot is available at all times - downtime is eliminated. Automation costs the most when it stands still. Continuity must therefore be ensured.

5 When considering leasing offers, it is important to look for individually adaptable financing options, as no two companies are the same. It is also ideal if the installments can be adjusted to cushion any cash flow bottlenecks. There should also be the option of working with a financial service provider or even the company's bank in order to be even more flexible.