China’s manufacturing industry faces multiple challenges such as global competition and the increasing need to transform and upgrade to modern processes.

To stay ahead, major manufacturers have begun implementing structural adjustment programs to automate its production lines. Wistron is the world’s first Original Design Manufacturer to deploy collaborative robots from Universal Robots (UR) in its laptop assembly line, enabling efficient and flexible production.

Since February 2015, Wistron has deployed 60 sets of UR robots in its production, performing functions that include applications such as pick and place, screwing as well as those involving vision systems. With the implementation of UR robots, the company has gained more flexibility for its future production line layout and configuration, effectively improved its product yield and optimised personnel allocation.

At the same time, the company is expected to see a reduction in operating costs and enhanced profitability in the long term. Enhanced flexibility in production line layout Wistron began automating its production with the installation of robotic arms more than two years ago.

The traditional four and six-axis robotic arms that were deployed previously not only required safety fencing but also occupied a large footprint and were designed only for non-sophisticated operations such as product handling. They did not conform to Wistron’s concept of a production line that represents “efficiency, flexibility and safety”.

Wistron’s laptop production line is unable to achieve complete automation because of its specific operating mode. As a result, the motion range of the robotic arms has to be restricted to ensure the safety of workers. They realised that they require robots that can function effectively without compromising workers’ safety, robots’ operating speeds and other functionalities within tight spaces.

“UR’s robots occupy a small footprint and are highly secure,” said Congyao Zhang, Wistron’s Manufacturing Technology Director. “Additionally, they can rotate 360 degrees, eliminating any blind areas of movement. Therefore, we are able to realise highly flexible production while ensuring its continuity and stability at the same time.” Optimised internal resources

Wistron has been experiencing a high employee turnover rate due to the mundane nature of jobs that involve carrying out simple tasks repetitively. As a single UR robot can perform the routine and repetitive work of two human workers, Wistron is now able to better optimise its resources. Employees can be freed up from performing monotonous tasks and redeployed to perform higher skilled tasks. The reassigning of duties has effectively reduced the company’s staffing issue. Reduced operating costs; enhanced profitability

UR robots take a short time – from assessment, installation, commissioning to actual operation – to get up and running. Using an innovative and user-friendly robot system software named, PolyScope, the average time that an operator requires to complete a UR robot set-up is about two to three hours.

It is also an added advantage that engineers and technicians with no prior experience with UR robots are able to master basic operations and movements within hours as compared to one to two weeks of formal training for traditional robots. Hence, UR robots help to shorten the learning curve significantly, effectively reducing the company’s training costs.

Additionally, UR robots help a company achieve a faster return on investment within a shorter time of one-and-a-half to two years, thereby improving its profitability considerably. Increasing product yield significantly Wistron has witnessed a sharp increase in its product yield since its deployment of UR robots.

“Some of our clients have observed our automated production line in person and expressed their appreciation of our adoption of robots,” said Director Zhang. “With robotic operations, we have been able to effectively enhance product yield and stability, alleviating issues such as labour shortages and human errors. As a result, our clients are happy to see more collaborative robots being introduced into the production lines in the future.”

Future prospects for collaborative robots Director Zhang concluded, “We expect to introduce more collaborative robots into our production lines in the future with our company planning to purchase over 120 new UR robots in 2015 this year.

“In addition, we have been dedicated to developing automated whole module equipment. We intend to redeploy our robots to new applications to ensure that not a single robot lies idle during a process change or when a process has been eliminated. In such situations, the automated stand-alone module equipment we have developed would be applied to collaborative robot-based production. Therefore, we are very optimistic about the market development potential of UR robots.”

About Wistron Corporation
Wistron Corporation is a global leading ODM (original design manufacturer) dedicated to providing design and manufacturing services for information and communication technology (ICT) products. Wistron’s network of design, manufacturing and service teams has grown to over 60,000 people worldwide.

Headquartered in Taiwan, the company has established manufacturing, R & D and customer service centers in Asia, America and Europe.

In China, Wistron has offices and operations in many cities including Zhongshan, Kunshan, Shanghai, Taizhou, Qingdao, Beijing and Chengdu.

For more information about the company, please visit the official website: http://www.wistron.com.cn/index.htm.

About Universal Robots

Universal Robots is a first mover within a new segment of collaborative industrial robots focusing on user friendliness and flexibility. Since the first UR robot entered the market in 2009, the company has seen substantial growth.

Now, UR robots are being sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. The company is headquartered in Odense, Denmark where all development and production is carried out. For more information about Universal Robots, please visit the official website: www.universal-robots.com