Part 1: Autonomous mobile robots, how to calculate your return on investment?
- Expertise
- Temps de lecture : 10 min
Autonomous mobile robots (AMR – article link here) are one of the most promising technologies in the logistics sector. They attract the attention of logistics managers in a multitude of sectors (Industry, Health establishments, Establishments open to the public).
AMRs are known for their ability to improve the efficiency and productivity of logistics transport operations.
The pricing of a robotics project can be difficult to understand, especially when it is the first time that you are considering investing in such solutions. It is therefore important to ask yourself the right questions in order to understand how the return on investment of autonomous mobile robots can be calculated.
Calculate your return on investment (ROI)
To accurately calculate ROI, you need to understand the expected productivity of the robotic system relative to the planned investment. This part of the calculation will be very application specific and will require careful consideration of current processes.
The initial costs and the tangible and intangible benefits must be particularly studied for autonomous robotics.
1- Initial costs:
It is important to remember that you are not just buying a robot but A COMPLETE SOLUTION. If you are about to assess the feasibility of implementing robots in your facility, you must first take into consideration that you will not only be purchasing robots, but also the complete setup of your robotic operations.
This cost includes the investment cost, implementation cost, and maintenance cost of the purchased AMR fleet, and may even include other hidden costs such as deployment costs, training costs, and maintenance costs. re setup.
Indeed, at Meanwhile the turnkey solution includes:
- A pre-project phase to fully understand your needs
- Studies and development
- Robots (mobile navigation bases + embedded application modules), the peri-robotics ecosystem (hardware and software)
- Installation and commissioning of your solution:
- Installation of robots and the peri-robotics ecosystem (charging stations, workstations, connection to elevators and automatic doors, human-machine interface, supervision, fleet manager, etc.)
- Robot settings
- Connectivity to the MES/ERP of your infrastructure
- Training your employees in the use of mobile robots and peri-robotic tools
- Train your employees in the use of mobile robots and peri-robotic tools
2- The benefits:
A- Tangibles
Annual labor savings:
This may look like calculating the annual salaries of your FTEs that you redeployed to other tasks after the introduction of AMR solutions.
It is important to emphasize that unlike traditional robotics, autonomous mobile robotics is not dedicated to replacing 1 or more positions, but rather fractions of time on each of the people who perform intralogistics transport tasks. These employees will be able to refocus on tasks with high added value, thus the time savings will be maximized and the production of improved value.
Thanks to their long range, high payload and autonomous navigation, AMRs can support hours per week of low value human tasks. Your robot fleet is able to operate 24 hours a day.
Reduced Risk of Error :
Automating tasks eliminates human error and the time spent identifying and correcting errors. Eliminating errors will increase the productivity of your entire business. In addition, Meanwhile’s provision of reporting, traceability and data logging solutions allow customers to analyze their data and optimize their management of logistics flows.
Decrease in intermediate stocks :
Thanks to autonomous mobile robots, you can reduce your work in progress. This is because they make “ just in time ” deliveries by delivering the right part, at the right time, to the right place.
B- Intangibles
Improvement of working conditions:
Improved level of employee satisfaction / Reduction of Musculoskeletal Disorders / Reduction of sick leave.
The primary objective of autonomous mobile robots is to relieve personnel in the execution of their missions. Thanks to them, musculoskeletal disorders are significantly reduced. AMRs relieve employees of low value-added tasks such as transporting loads and energy-intensive travel, the risk of accidents during travel. They can then focus on their core business.
It is therefore important to ask the following questions : By automating deliveries with autonomous mobile robots, how much can be saved in terms of social costs and health, medical and insurance costs ?
Improved responsiveness :
Working in an automated environment saves time and optimizes processes. One of the main benefits of using robots in production operations is the time you save with your connected robotics solution.
Your production management software can now directly send orders to robots to feed or remove raw materials or finished products from the production line, thus avoiding any loss of time that can occur with manual operations. Your connected robotic solution anticipates needs.
For example, on the JTEKT Dijon Saint-Etienne site, the installation operator must carry out immediate maintenance in the event of process stoppages. Before the site was equipped with Meanwhile mobile robots, this same person was in charge of picking up parcels. As a result, during a process shutdown, it happened that this person was not immediately available to intervene because he was performing another task (recovering a package at the other end of the factory,. ..). Since JTEKT equipped its factory with AMR, the installation operator is close to the process and can act immediately in the event of a problem. The group was therefore able to save minutes of downtime on its process.
Rapid response to market demands (adaptable efficient, flexible) :
Agile, AMRs contribute to reliable, efficient and flexible workflows. The deployment of AMRs is relatively quick: within a few days, the number of AMRs can be easily modified according to operational needs. For example, in case of moving production islands or adding new islands or processes, a new building plan can be easily and quickly transferred, without requiring large investments to renovate environments and add infrastructure. (See article resilience of AMR)
Improving your CSR Policy :
The primary objective of autonomous mobile robots is to relieve personnel in the execution of their missions. Indeed, autonomous mobile robotics frees employees from carrying loads and energy-intensive travel, allowing them to focus on missions with greater added value. In the industrial world, it also improves working conditions, the quality and safety of production processes. In the world of healthcare establishments, it allows staff to improve safety and efficiency of care and limits the transport of nosocomial diseases, and in doing so, it proves to be a lever of social responsibility for companies.
It is important to have a global vision of your autonomous mobile robotic solution. The list of variables to take into account should allow you to measure your return on investment by making the right choices to maximize it. This investment is significant because it will directly impact your competitiveness, growth and the sustainability of your business.
For any additional information, contact Meanwhile: contact@meanwhile-france.com. We guide you in the expression of your needs and we support you in the implementation of fully adapted personalized solutions in order to transform your production tool and define a sustainable 4.0-oriented trajectory. This support allows you to reduce the impact on production, get the most out of your mobile robots while reducing the total cost of ownership of your solution.
Complementary article: How to maximize your ROI, the variables to take into account