Benefits of Dispensing Robots

Dispensing robots are being deployed in a wide variety of industries to automate the distribution of goods, materials, medications, and even food. Dispensing robots used in more traditional industrial settings are commonly used to pour paint, apply sealant, or dispense beads of adhesives. While in the pharmaceutical industry articulated robots have been introduced to count pills, fill medications, and locate prescriptions. In the food industry, robot manipulators are automating the distribution of ingredients in food production facilities as well as being used to deliver meals in food dispensing kiosks. Whether dispensing robots are automating a production line, pharmacy, or kitchen there are several benefits to be gained. These benefits include:

• • Accuracy - Industrial robots are programmed to accurately dispense any material or product. The FANUC M-710ic/70 will accurately dispense sealant with every workpiece. Manual dispensing is very error prone as there is no way to ensure materials are accurately dispensed. This can lead to an over use of materials, higher costs, as well as errors. With dispensing robots errors are mitigated as they provide better control over the materials being dispensed with their accuracy.


• • Increased Product Safety - For industries such as the pharmaceutical and food, implementing dispensing robotic manipulators will increase the safety of their products. Both industries can be prone to their products becoming contaminated through human handling. Using a cleanroom robot like the FANUC M-2ia or another sanitary manufacturing robot arm eliminates human handling of medications or food items preventing the possibility of contamination from occurring. Preventing contamination reduces the likelihood of costly recalls. Factory robots can ensure environments remain clean and sterile. In the pharmaceutical industry, dispensing robots are able to distinguish similar looking pills preventing the filling of the wrong medication.


• • Faster Dispensing - Another benefit of dispensing robots is their speed. The ABB IRB 2600 can quickly distribute materials without any delays, distractions, or breaks. Dispensing robots are programmed to operate continuously with the ability to run twenty-four hours a day. Faster dispensing prevents bottlenecks in operations allowing for a much more efficient operation overall.


• • Creates a Better Workforce - Implementing dispensing robots eliminates tedious and repetitive tasks from workers everyday responsibilities. This allows workers to focus on more critical tasks instead of being consumed by busy work. Automating the filling of prescriptions with the Yaskawa MH5 allows pharmacists to spend more time interacting with patients, providing better service and care. Automating a repetitive process such as dispensing with the FANUC Lr Mate 200id/7L creates a better workforce as employees have more time for more value adding tasks.


• • Consistency - Automating dispensing with robots creates a more consistent process. Errors are mitigated which prevents the over or under distribution of materials and the dispensing of the wrong medication or product. The high repeatability of robots ensures all steps of an application are replicated with each cycle run. The consistency of dispensing robots allows operations to become more predictable for better planning.


• • Lower Costs - Automating dispensing with robots will result in lower costs. Dispensing robots will reduce errors and waste thus lowering production costs. In some instances manual labor can be reduced with dispensing robots, lowering labor costs as well.