400% Productivity Boost - 15-Week ROI Tending Multiple Machines | Cobot Spotlight

Colorado injection molder solved its labor and production challenges with the UR5e cobot and achieved 24/7 machine tending. But most importantly, they figured out how to use the cobot in multiple scenarios and redeploy it quickly.

Author

Catherine Bernier
February 12, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

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AIM Processing produces parts for more than 100 different customers in various industries. 

They work with a lot of part variety.

“Every day is new here with very few production runs set up for a long time,” noted Jon Gelston, owner of AIM Processing. 

Sprinkle on top some labor shortage problems, and it becomes very difficult to meet your goals.

Typically, highly variable tasks are tough to automate. But cobots saved the day, once again.

The most amazing part is that AIM Processing used a small UR cobot, the UR5e, to dramatically boost its output and achieve a very fast ROI, proving that you don’t always need the largest-reaching cobot.

Cobot Brand: UR

Suppliers: In-Position Technologies and Flexxbotics

Application: Machine tending

The Key Problem

How the Cobot Was Implemented

The Results

Labor challenges and the difficulty of running more than 1300 parts for over 100 customers.

A custom mobile platform with a UR5e cobot that can be redeployed for various tasks in under 2 minutes.

400% productivity boost, 24-hour manufacturing, and a 15-week ROI.

Why AIM Processing Decided To Use a Cobot For Automation

Considering the drastic part volatility AIM processing is dealing with daily, automation with traditional robotics wouldn’t be economical or efficient.

With 37 presses running 24/7 for global small to medium-sized customers, they needed a machine-tending solution that could adapt to their needs.

If the robot isn’t running, it's not working on paying itself off and improving their business.

The AIM Processing team saw UR cobots at tradeshows, so they were interested in seeing what this technology could do for them. And… they weren’t disappointed.

After the In-Position Technologies’ engineer, Seth Leinbach, made a thorough walk-through of the AIM Processing facilities, they engineered a plan for a mobile, and easy-to-re-deploy UR5e cobot powered by Flexxbotics’ Flex Reference solution. 

Image of Seth Leinbach from In-Position Technologies discussing cobot use with Jon Gelston, the owner of AIM Processing. Image source.

Their solution absolutely hit the bull's eye, ensuring the cobot runs almost at all times, allowing them to achieve an incredibly fast ROI.

The Mobile Cobot Setup

Considering their short-run sizes for parts, they needed a cobot that could be moved around from one machine to another.

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“We looked at several applications and none were high enough volume to justify a dedicated robot cell. Jon also had plenty of questions on how to repurpose a robot and how to match coordinate systems of the UR to the injection molding machine, and right away I thought it was a perfect fit for a UR+ solution by Flexxbotics called the Flexx Reference,” said Seth from In-Position Technologies.

If your cobot isn’t working, it’s collecting dust, prolonging the ROI time.

So, what do you do if your individual machines don’t need consistent tending? 

You make the cobot mobile and move it from one machine to another, keeping it running at all times.

Flexx Reference: Consistency In Cobot Re-deployment

Okay, but how do you redeploy a cobot after moving it around your facility? 

After all... Manufacturers often face tough tolerances. AIM Processing sure did, with an accuracy of just 0.5mm at some points. You don’t want to reprogram the cobot every time.

“It is one thing to get something working once, but without a dedicated production line and the UR5e locked into an exact position, how would we set this up again?”, said Jon.

That’s where Flexx Reference from Flexxbotics came in and saved the day.

The Flexx Reference uses a Lockout Assembly mechanical system that captures the cobot’s coordinates, allowing you to get the cobot back to the original position in less than 2 minutes. Easy peasy.

Image of a Lockout Assembly used by the Flexx Reference for quick cobot redeployment. Image Source.

This allowed AIM Processing to constantly move the cobot around the floor, redeploy it for whatever task it was assigned, and immediately return it to its previous task when needed.

ROI And Productivity Gain

Thanks to such a brilliant system where the cobot can operate multiple machines, the ROI was just 15 weeks. 

The trick to improving the ROI was that In-Position Technologies figured out a way to use Flexx Reference to keep the cobot constantly running. While AIM Processing didn’t have a single line where they’d run the cobot, Seth from In-Position managed to not only introduce a cobot to their manufacturing but to automate multiple processes with 1 cobot.

A little bit of creativity with cobots goes a long way.

AIM Processing achieved a 4X productivity boost and solved their labor shortage issues while automating:

  • Injection molding machines

  • Tray stacking

  • Placing trays for the cartesian robot

  • Picking parts off conveyors

  • Overmolding

  • Bagging

  • And other repetitive tasks.

Learn more about their experience here:

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Enjoy your week!

The Cobot Success Stories Team