Lan Terseglav, dr. Žiga Gosar, oba Elvez, d. o. o, Ljubljana;
izr. prof. dr. Janez Kušar, univ. dipl. inž., doc. dr. Tomaž Berlec, univ. dipl. inž., oba Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za strojništvo

One such process is the fitting of adhesive tape to polymeric products, which is currently a fully manual process in the company in question. The purpose of this research was to create the concept of a robot cell as a proposal for process improvement and to compare the states before and after automation, especially from a cost perspective, as well as with other indicators. The value flow analysis has shown that, with the improved process, the production flow time is greatly reduced, as is the occupancy of the production space. It has been proven that by implementing a robot cell into the process, it is still possible to meet customer requirements in terms of both volume and quality. In addition, only one worker is required to operate the robotic process. It should also be emphasized that the use of robots eliminates the negative effect of the old process on human health (e.g. inhalation of volatile solvent), and the more accurate dosing of the minimum required amount of solvent reduces the environmental impact. The robot cell thus follows the guidelines of Industry 4.0, which is increasingly present in our region. Changing the process requires an initial investment, which was calculated in the research to return in a year.

Keywords:
production process, adhesive tape installation, process improvement, robot cell, lean methods