Estudio previo | Probotec

Previous study. The difference between success and failure

Automation projects consist of several phases throughout their entire process. One of the most important and that can determine the success or failure of the project is the design or planning phase.

Before starting to build and assemble our project, it is convenient to be very clear about all the parts that are going to compose it, hence a good preliminary study is essential.

Some of the key issues that must be taken into account during this phase are the current legal regulations, which often limit the implementation of these projects. It is important to know, or have the advice of qualified people, in the application of the current regulations that apply to our machine or production line. Safety distances, heights of perimeter closures, response time of dangerous equipment, etc. are some of the data to take into account in our previous design.

proyectos de automatización

Throughout this phase, the objectives must be indicated, the scope indicated, the plans drawn up, the resources identified, the tasks distributed, and a work plan created, among many other tasks.

The preliminary study is more than the definition of the necessary parts to carry out our project, it is to thoroughly analyze all the parts, both electrical, pneumatic, mechanical, etc., as well as to propose and perfectly define our PLC and robotics engineering. All this, well planned and studied, is what can make our project finish successfully, and that in the face of small setbacks we can deal with quickly and effectively, showing our clients the professionalism and ability to do a good job.

From my experience in these 20 years, a large part of the success of the projects that I have carried out, many of them large, critical due to their execution time or because they are in important areas of the production chain, have mainly come from studies Thorough and meticulous preliminary tests, getting everything studied and documented, thus facilitating the work of the rest of the people involved in the project, making everyone end up doing everything you had planned in your previous study.

Pablo Padín Pazos, Head of PROBOTEC Technical Department.

logística interna

Reflection on internal logistics, handling and automation

Although during these 5 months that I have been at Probotec I have increased my technical knowledge, it is true that we have professionals in the company with a very marked technical profile and with a lot of experience who will help us to write very interesting articles with great technological content and news surprising. I am going to launch with a little reflection, especially at a commercial rather than technical level, which is where I can contribute a little more. Soon we will create our blog on the website which we will update with many interesting articles.

We are currently living in a difficult time where COVID-19 is joined by a crisis that we are yet to see the consequences.

In this current reality we need to turn our heads to be increasingly efficient and effective in everything we do. In my opinion, one of the strategic sectors is logistics. Internal and external logistics must move forward taking a firm step by integrating increasingly advanced automation and robotics solutions.

Thinking that there are more and more automatic solutions in warehouses such as fully automated warehouses, AGV-type equipment for the transfer of raw materials and finished product, we have to give it a spin to achieve even more growth at the level of automation in this field. that?:

To simplify the work carried out by the person, so that this person can go on to carry out control and maintenance work. Not long ago I saw in a food logistics plant load a truck with a food product that weighs little and takes up more. To the question and why do you do this process manually? The answer was that they needed to load the truck up to the top, which means up to the roof and sometimes without a box to be able to take advantage of the maximum volume and thus make it profitable. Have we really not been able to automate processes like these yet? Do we need to have a person to do this process, even if it is the end and not take advantage of it for more value-added processes? Of course with the great physical effort involved and possible injuries. You are right!! We have much to do.

Reliably change industrial processes if necessary. Usually in the companies in which I have worked, I have seen that a change in a process entailed a significant risk in all aspects because it largely depended on the operations carried out by people. With automation we avoid that trauma or at least soften it.

Improve the quality of products by increasing their production, since with automation we avoid the fatigue that the person may have. I have worked for years in quality in the automotive sector and I can assure you that this happens.

Improve the safety of people since we prevent the person from performing dangerous or complex tasks. This is very important, we must not only think about production and that said production is reliable, but we must also guarantee everyone’s safety.

These points were taken from a small training that I have begun to carry out at the Polytechnic of Vigo to try to advise my clients as well as possible and have some clearer concepts, but they define quite well what we are talking about.

We will talk at length about warehouse logistics, about internal and handling I will give you a little reflection.
A few days ago a client raised me a problem of internal logistics or for others of handling, where an operator has to handle / transfer a raw material by weight (10-12 kg) because current solutions do not They gave an answer to this problem due to the characteristics of the layout and the facilities themselves.

After thinking about it many times, thinking of boarding a Cobot on an AGV (weight limitations, times, …) or mounting a Robot on a track, with difficulties generated at the level of security and accessibility, in addition to other ideas, we have been left with something really simple to which we will think of integrating some safe automation, otherwise it would not be us.

If I ask you this, it is because many times we only think of automating external logistics processes and internal logistics are forgotten and I am not only referring to taking the raw material at the beginning of the process or transferring the finished product to the warehouse, but to all that type of intermediate manipulations that are done manually and repetitively that all they generate is little added value and if a lot of injury and routine.

We have to stop and analyze all the phases of the process and then try to find a suitable solution for each one so that we can improve both at the security level and at the economic level. For these analyzes we can use tools such as FMEA (Modal Analysis of Failures or Effects), process flow charts and automation, etc …

Here is a good example of a portable turnkey cell that performs the operation of collecting pieces from a line and placing it in a basket or another depending on the type of piece, in addition to being able to take it from one line to another with a forklift . This team would attack most of the points that I mentioned before, but it is only a small example of what we can do from Probotec Procesos Industriales SL

I hope that this small article that I have dared to write will be useful for some of you.

Álvaro Pérez Pena, PROBOTEC Commercial Department.