coboworx with palletizing robot from 2.300 €/ month

coboworx, the robotics startup whose four founders can look back on over 100 years of industry experience, presents the first robot it has developed itself. It is a palletizing rober that has one vertical axis at low cost and therefore saves two expensive joints. In other words, the actual arm has only four axes, but achieves the usual mobility. This approach had been probably first introduced by French startup MIP-Robotics in 2019. While the MIP robot was en miniature, the Coborx palletizer is industrial-grade.

coboworx is headed by Olaf Gehrels, among others. Gehrels was the head of FANUC-Europe for many years and is a board member of the German Robotics Association, which he co-founded. There is hardly anyone else who knows the robotics industry as well as he does, and he has a corresponding network of contacts. As a salesman, he also knows the target customers, SMEs, very well. By the way, coboworx sees itself neither as a robot manufacturer nor as a system integrator, but as an automation enabler. Although this is a presumed in-house development, it is already foreseeable that an automation solution using a well-known robot will soon be available. coboworx received in the fall of 2021 in addition to the founding capital (0.8 million euros) a financing of 4.5 million euros(link). Now to the press release:

The new palletizing solution relieves employees and protects the investment budget

From coboworx, Osann-Monzel, comes a newly designed, fully integrated and process-ready palletizing solution. The central component of the palletizing cell is a specially developed 4-axis robot with a vertical traversing axis. Thanks to its modular design, the overall system can be adapted to a variety of use cases. The objective of the offering is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular with an entry into robot automation.

Space requirement of only 9 sqm - up to 35 kg

With the lightweight robot, coboworx positions itself between the small cobot palletizing cells and special systems with large industrial robots: easy to handle like with a cobot, powerful like an industrial robot. One plus point, for example, is the small footprint of just 9 m². Due to the limited space available at many SMEs, this should make it easy to automate palletizing at a later date. Nevertheless, the cell is said to be in no way inferior to its "bigger brothers" in terms of performance. The throughput of the cell is up to 1,000 units per hour at 400 strokes per hour, depending on component weight and condition, with a payload of the robot of up to 35 kg.

User should be self-sufficient

The claim of coboworx is to make palletizing by robot so simple that the operating personnel can run, change over and operate the system themselves. This is also reflected in technical details: All energy and media lines, including the Ethercat cable, are routed inside the robot arm up to the hand flange, so that a gripper change can be carried out by the SME himself within a few minutes. The user interface is clear and intuitive; when creating programs, coboworx works with no-code programming. The software is specifically designed for the palletizing use case, so that any well-trained specialist can adapt the program, without any expert knowledge. The process data can be visualized on a smartphone via a dashboard app with the aim of also being able to use this data in a higher-level IT system (ERP or MES). In this way, IoT should also establish itself in medium-sized companies in the long term.

The modular design of the cell in a building block principle is also intended to change the procurement process of robotic cells. In this way, coboworx wants to transfer purchasing behavior from e-commerce to the B2B sector. Since the individual standard modules and subsystems are coordinated with each other, the overall cell can be easily created online via a configurator, individually tailored to customer requirements. Unique to date: configuring a robotic cell and procuring it via an online platform should be as easy as it is in the consumer goods world.

Customized solution is offered within 48 hours

Again, coboworx acts from the end user's point of view. The customer can use the configurator to describe his process, and the technical translation into a layout is then handled by the configurator software. The in-house automation experts then advise the customer in a timely manner and deliver an indicative price within 48 hours. The procurement process can thus be completed in two weeks, if desired by the customer.

"From a cost perspective, coboworx also wants to remove barriers for SMEs in robot automation," says one of the coboworx founders Olaf Gehrels. "We lower these barriers with a rental model, flexible terms, extensive warranties and the ability to swap robots within the term." Depending on the operational situation, a robot subscription can be economically attractive. There is no lower or upper time limit with "Robo as a subscription." "The rental model includes hardware with gripper and safety package, but also app applications and an 'all-round carefree' service as a service. A point of reference: a rental is possible from 2,650 euros per month and thus a profitability (ROI) is given from the first month," explains Klaus Wagner, also one of the coboworx founders. The SME thus decimates the technical risk and keeps the financial outlay within bounds. Trying it out is expressly possible and desired. In the future, coboworx will provide palletizing cells that can be rented at short notice.

With an automated palletizing cell, a company gets to the root of pressing problems. Existing personnel are physically relieved and can be deployed for more demanding tasks. A labor shortage is countered in a future-oriented manner and potential applicants for production are not deterred because a robot takes over heavy, repetitive palletizing tasks.

Following the press release, a slightly older (2020) video of the startup founded in 2019:

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The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He advises robotics companies and investors on market analysis and funding/subsidies. More about him can be found here.