{"id":4449,"date":"2021-10-04T11:04:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T15:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robodk.com\/blog\/?p=4449"},"modified":"2021-10-04T11:04:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T15:04:36","slug":"material-handling-robots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robodk.com\/blog\/material-handling-robots\/","title":{"rendered":"Material Handling Robots: A Practical Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are material handling robots? How can you apply them to your operations?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many tasks in manufacturing facilities come under the umbrella of “material handling”. However, it’s not always clear how the term applies to robotic automation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a practical introduction to using material handling robots in your business.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Are Material Handling Robots?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The definition of material handling<\/a> is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Material Handling is the process of moving goods and materials short distances within a building, factory, facility, or warehouse.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Following this, a material handling robot is any robot that moves materials short distances around your facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a practical perspective, this means that you will program the robot to grasp each object, move it to another location, and put it down again. For this reason, material handling tasks are relatively simple tasks to achieve with a robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Material Handling Too Variable for Robots?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you start looking for material handling tasks in your facility, you will likely start to see them everywhere. People are always picking up materials and workpieces, moving them around, sorting and storing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, you might doubt whether such tasks can really be automated. It can seem that there is just too much variability in material handling tasks for automation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation indeed requires objects to be presented in a consistent, regular fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, one advantage of the robot deployment process is that it often reveals opportunities for regularity where you didn’t see them before. When deploying your material handling robot, you will discover new consistency in your tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Good Reason to Use Robots for Material Handling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a few benefits to using robots for your material handling tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robots can help to overcome some of the common challenges for material handling operations,<\/a> including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n