Meeting Seasonal Production Spike In The Solar Industry With Cobots

Headquartered in Charlo, a small community in Montana, MT Solar manufactures mounting structures for solar modules.

However, being located in a community with less than 400 people, it is very challenging to hire additional staff to handle an increased workload.

And… Being a business in the solar industry… The demand would skyrocket every summer.

MT Solar sees a 300% demand increase for solar mounts every summer.

It was clear that something had to change.

And the change came from one of their welders who asked Jordan to look at cobots.

What followed?

After installing a Universal Robot specialized for welding by Vectis Automation, MT Solar handed the demand like the champs they are, solving the labor issue, and improving the product quality, while achieving exceptional tangible and intangible ROI.

The Rampant Demand And Inability To Keep Up

Dealing with labor shortages in a small community and a seasonal uptick in production made it very challenging for MT Solar to keep up with its customers’ needs.

It’s one thing when the demand is relatively stable year-round. But another thing entirely when you get a 300% demand boost in summer alone. Where do you get additional labor for those months? 

And it’s not like MT Solar could deal with the issue by completing partial orders. They had to deliver all of the parts in time.

“Think of us as “Solar Ikea,” if you will—where all the pieces have to go out to the customer to be assembled in the field. If I don’t have all the other parts that go with it, I can’t ship anything,” said Jordan.

Saying that MT Solar struggled to keep up would be an understatement. Automation was an absolute necessity.

And as it turns out… It was a member of their welding staff who noticed the need for robotics first. 

“He said “I really think you should look into this, it would be a good solution for our team.” And I’m like, “Well, if you got one of the operators saying you need to look into robotics, you’ve got a reason you should be doing something here.”

Why A Cobot - Why Not a Traditional Robotic Cell?

MT Solar works on way too many different projects, requiring high part variability.

In terms of automation… This means high programming flexibility. 

A traditional robotic cell would be too time and resource-intensive to program each part.

But cobots… They love high mix, low volume production.

“We’ve looked at conventional robots. They are wonderful at doing the same item really really fast,” said Jordan. “By doing a Vectis Universal Robot I was able to program it to handle many different parts together. I can do three of this and twelve of that all in a package, and presto I’ve got a shippable part, and we’ve found it to be much easier to get an ROI on them,” he added.

Ultimately, cobots can be incredibly simple to work with. MT Solar needed something to automate production without hiring a robotics specialist or undergoing extensive training.

How The Vectis Cobot Welding Tool Fit In

Arguably, welding is the most challenging process to automate with a robot compared to machine tending, palletizing, lab work, and other less complex tasks. 

Welding requires precise heat input control, torch movement accuracy, and the ability to adapt to different weld features. So, they were looking for a welding cobot to meet their part and welding feature needs.

The Cobot Welding Tool by Vectis had the simplicity and flexibility they needed. 

After setting up the cobot, the cell with jogs, and the teach pendant, they were ready for some action.

MT Solar had production parts running on the cobot on the first day.

Their cobot welds 4-12 parts per run, and humans reload fresh parts after the cycle is done creating a collaborative effort where the cobot maximizes the weld quality and productivity.

The Results

First and foremost, MT Solar met their 300% demand surge thanks to the cobot implementation. 

So, they easily 3X welded parts output. 

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

MT Solar has solved a wide range of issues, gaining tangible and intangible ROI.

• No more excessive stressing about the labor shortage in their area

• Achieved a significantly higher competitiveness

• Improved weld quality

• Reduced welding errors

• Freed up their staff from repetitive welding jobs

• Gained more value from their welders

• Eliminated welding tasks that have bad ergonomics

Learn more about MT Solar’s success and the Vectis cobot solution below:

• Vectis Automation website

• Automating Small Batch Welding - Automation at MT Solar

Enjoy your week!

The Cobot Spotlight Team