5 Significant advantages of robot painting

Though often considered expensive, there are many benefits automation can bring to your industrial finishing operation that outweigh the costs by far. Specifically for the paint automation processes, the five most significant advantages are: reducing cost, improving quality, reducing waste, increasing flexibility and reducing labour costs.

The biggest challenge for industrial companies lies in improving operational efficiency and productivity, reducing costs and mitigating risk. Automating your industrial finishing processes enables you to remain profitable in the demanding market of today. 

Reduce cost
Automation and robotic technology is less expensive than you think, and prices are decreasing every year. The initial investment costs might seem hefty, but automating a manufacturing process will increase output and reduce costs. It will continue to provide benefits for years to come, saving you money in the long run. 

Improve quality
To stay competitive, manufacturers cannot afford to have variation in product quality, especially when it comes to painting. Robots can ensure that the spray gun parameters and spraying motion are exactly the same each time, which increases quality. Even the most skilled painters cannot ensure that type of consistency and precision for each part. Better consistency means less wasted material.

Reduce waste
Paint automation can reduce material consumption by up to 30%, thanks to the accuracy of robots. Add a plural component proportioner like Graco’s ProMix PD2K which mixes material close to the gun, and reduce waste even more. Still not enough? Add electrostatic spray guns to the mix and boost your transfer efficiency, eliminating even more material waste.

Increase flexibility
Robots can easily be reprogrammed to perform new jobs. Why create a new fixture when a robot can make adjustments on the fly? This flexibility not only saves time during change-overs, it saves money too. Automation also provides flexibility to change materials and colours more frequently, allowing you to simplify your production planning.

Stimulate workforce
Robots do not stop working when the whistle blows and they don’t care if they have to run 24/7. In fact, working three shifts of eight hours per day, they can do the work of three employees. For this reason, labour and overheads are usually the largest drivers of savings. But the workforce itself also benefits from robots in several ways. They can perform repetitive (not to mention boring) tasks, which reduces on-the-job injuries and job dissatisfaction of your workforce. Robots can also replace employees, a company’s most valuable asset, on dangerous jobs, allowing them to focus on skilled labour jobs that require decision-making and judgment.