Robotics company ABB invites you to use a return on investment calculator it has put on its website so you can work out how much you could be saving if you bought a robot for your business.

You can select various uses of the robot, none of which is specifically working stone, but choose ‘machine minding’.

The invitation to companies to use the ROI calculator follows a survey carried out for ABB that showed misconceptions are still rife among small companies producing bespoke items about the suitability of robotic automation.

When companies were asked why they did not use robots, 27% said they were operating low volume or bespoke processes they did not deem suitable for robotic automation.

Mike Wilson, General Industry Sales & Marketing Manager for ABB’s UK Robotics business, says: “The unfortunate flipside of the success of robotic automation in the automotive industry is that it has led to a popular belief that robots are only suitable for mass production processes. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Developments in robotic technology have made robots more flexible than ever, enabling them to be quickly switched between completely different products and processes.”

You can read about how successful a robot can be in a stone company in the report on Stoneworld (Oxford) in the current (May) issue of Natural Stone Specialist magazine. Masonry companies that initially derided Stone World for buying a robot are now frequently sub-contracting masonry work to the robot.

Convincing more UK manufacturers to embrace automation is one of the key recommendations of a new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group (APMG). Making Good: A study of culture and competitiveness in UK manufacturing addresses the problems currently impeding the progress of UK manufacturing companies, including a reluctance to automate.

“One of the key findings of the report is that the cost-conscious, short-term outlook of British companies has prevented them from seeing the bigger picture when it comes to automation,” says Mike Wilson. “A fixation on the capital outlay cost has meant that the longer term cost benefits of using automation to deliver flexible manufacturing, where the same line can be used to produce multiple products, are ignored.”

To help companies to assess the scope for introducing robotic automation into their processes, ABB is offering a free, no-obligation ‘Productivity & Efficiency Appraisal’ service.

Lasting half a day, the appraisal includes a visit by an ABB engineer who will help to identify tasks where robots could deliver productivity and efficiency savings.

For more information, or to book an appraisal, email robotics@gb.abb.com or call 01908 350300 and refer to ‘Free appraisal’.

But before you do that you might like to see a quick estimate of the potential return on investment of robotic automation using that online Return on Investment calculator tool. Click here to go to it.