Painting cobot from paint manufacturer Adler Lacke

The German Robotics Association (DRV) has launched an initiative to reduce the shortage of skilled workers by means of 1,000,000 robots by 2030. Robots of various categories are to be deployed in all sectors. From industry to crafts, from gastronomy to nursing and medicine. The problem, according to the DRV: Hardly any craftsmen have the willingness, competence or resources to develop solutions themselves. The domain knowledge, however, lies in the industry. Application-specific solutions based on existing hardware must therefore be developed primarily by the relevant industry, according to the thesis. In other words, the industrial suppliers of the trade. Because without tile-laying craftsmen, a company in the tile industry can no longer sell anything.

A major paint manufacturer shows how it's done

Adler-Werk Lackfabrik Johann Berghofer GmbH & Co KG was founded back in 1934 and today has over 600 employees. The company, which is based in Schwaz/Tyrol, generates revenues of around 150 million euros. With such a size, the "risk" of an application-specific cobot development can definitely be taken. If it succeeds, it can be sold well thanks to the company's own market access and the trust it enjoys. This is probably what those responsible at Adler thought. They were probably right. The result is a solution that will help window and door manufacturers in particular.

Great strategic advantages

As an outsider, I see several advantages of this application right away:

• Additional revenues as well as positioning as innovative.
• Customer loyalty.
• Supporting the smaller businesses that have less purchasing power than the large industrial window manufacturers.
• Securing paint sales per se. Because if there are fewer and fewer window manufacturers (carpenters, etc.), there will also be less coating.

A universal robot will be used. The press release can be found here: Link. In it, Matthias Stötzel, head of application technology for windows and wood construction at ADLER, has his say. Without innovation drivers like him, the project would probably not have been possible.

"For a normal painting robot, special protective entries or a dedicated painting booth are required. The cobot, on the other hand, can be used in any environment; man and machine work together shoulder to shoulder, as it were," explains Stötzel. For the field test in ADLER's application technology, a cobot was equipped with an Airmix gun and mounted on a transportable attachment. Over several months, the prototype was tested for a wide range of applications - and passed with flying colors: "We can answer the question of whether cobots are suitable for use in surface coating with a resounding yes," says Stötzel. The ADLER team has thus gained valuable experience in the field of coating technology: "Cobots also offer an exciting alternative for smaller manufacturers to implement automation with low effort and high flexibility. I am pleased that we can now also support our customers in this area with our practical know-how."

Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn (Link)

In my own account/advertisement
The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He consults around robotics. More about him can be found here.