X-STK, the control and automation product sales division of Applied Automation (UK) Ltd has recently recruited collaborative robot specialist, Jessica Watts who will be operating in the mid and north of England and Wales areas.

Jessica has been working across industry with collaborative robots for the last few years. In that time she has acquired extensive product knowledge and an excellent understanding of how these cobots, with appropriate end-of-arm tooling, can be used for a bewildering range of applications, particularly in assembly, where the uptake of cobots is anticipated to grow at the fastest rate.

X-STK are a preferred partner of Universal Robots, the world leader in collaborative robots (cobots). These devices can, depending on circumstances, be used unguarded, operating alongside human workers. According to industry research carried out by www.marketsandmarkets.com, the global collaborative robot market in 2018 was estimated to be valued around $710 million and by 2025 is expected to grow to around $12,303 million.

We sat down with Jess and asked her a few questions about how she hoped to help SMEs introduce cobots into the production process:

What do you see as your main role with the X-STK team?
My role is purely focussing on introducing new and existing customers to collaborative robots, highlighting their benefits and the expected ROI.

What are you hoping to bring to this new role?
With my recent experience in the growing industry of collaborative robots, I am confident that I can utilise this to educate customers on the benefits of this technology within their workplace.

Which markets do you think can benefit from a collaborative robot?
The great thing about cobots is that they are so versatile, they can be deployed into multiple industries, from food and agriculture to electrics and technology, to automotive to pharmaceuticals. Most labour intensive, highly repetitive tasks can be improved with a collaborative robot. Cobots can make automation affordable even for small-batch productions runs and mixed product assembly.

What would you say to someone who isn’t sure of the benefits of cobots and their business doing perfectly well without them?
I would say that regardless of the size of their business there would be benefits that could be achieved from cobots; they’re lightweight, small, and easy to redeploy to multiple applications without changing their production layout. Cobots can take on dirty, dangerous and dull jobs to reduce repetitive strain and accidental injury to humans. Workers who had previously done these jobs can be upskilled, resulting in higher job satisfaction and decreased staff turnover.

Growth in the cobot market is being driven by a growing demand for light, moderate payload capacity cobots, due to their affordability and ease of deployment, with their plug-and-play characteristics which meet the requirements of many SMEs looking to introduce automation into their production process.

If you would like to speak to Jess about an application and how a cobot could offer a practical solution, along with the likely ROI time, email JessicaWatts@x-stk.com or call 07716 228159.