8 SECRETS FOR INVESTING IN A ROB: TOP SECRET!

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When I started working in this field I had not even understood the potential of what I was doing.

I was just like you, only focused on producing more and better solutions able to meet every need and give clientele  satisfaction.

I never focused my thoughts on explaining which were the steps to invest in one of my solutions rather than in another.

Today, according to the data, I can tell you that the way is already marked, there are many reasons to invest in a robotic cutting and deburring cell.

Whether you produce a wide range or small batches, you MUST look ahead.

I’m sure you control your business costs, and you think you have the best production process in the world.

I’m sure you compare yourself with your competitors and are proud of your company…

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…BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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Nowadays the market runs fast
and situations turn over faster.

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Just think that a few years ago the use of a robotic cell increased annually by 2 – 3 %, while now it is calculated to be about 10% with peaks of 25% in many sectors.

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DO YOU STILL WANT TO KEEP WATCHING
OR IS IT  TIME TO START RUNNING?

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Every year the machines are easier to use, more versatile, and more related to the rest of the plant.

Never mind the rest of the world.

Let me tell you something.

You would gain more by installing a robotic cutting and deburring cell:

1. Investment profit returns within a shorter time

2. Less safety costs 

3. Fixed cost of the piece

4. Sicure delivery times

5. Lean production in your plant

6. Always identical  pieces at each retooling

7. Less logistic costs

8. Less management costs for rejects

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1. INVESTMENT PROFIT RETURNS WITHIN
A SHORTER TIME

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Many times it happens, when I sit at the table with my client, the first opening question is the price of my machine.

When the client stands in front of my machine at the company, it is clear that I could have sold him the machine at twice the price and he would still have been satisfied!

That’s right, even selling the machine at twice the price you would have been very satisfied anyway!

A properly equipped robot replaces 2-3-4 even 5 people each shift, it depends on how heavy the work is.

If you work 3 shifts, a robotic cell can replace up to 15 people.

That said, please tell me about your profit returns. According to my calculations, the profit return ranges from 16 to 36 months.

First of all, your investment returns within a very short time but then you  have many other advantages which I’ll explain below.

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DON’T THINK YOU’RE DIFFERENT,
THAT YOUR REALITY IS DIFFERENT

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It is  obvious, there is no machine which will fit every company, that you just need a robot and your problems are solved.

You need the machine solving your problems, which has to be built to give you profit every second.

The machine is made up of many components that need to be designed and built to solve YOUR problem. Yes, actually YOUR problem. You can no longer think that by getting any kind of  small robot with a work unit that it can sustain 15 people.

You just don’t need a “cell” as my competitor calls it. 

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IF YOU INSTALL THE WRONG MACHINE …

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… THEN YOUR PROBLEM BECOMES MORE SERIOUS.

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2. LESS SAFETY COSTS

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If you have a deburring or cutting department you know the risks you run.

For your operators but also for you personally, every day and every night.

Every operator who works in the department is constantly exposed to thousands of risks :

• noise
• vibrations
• cutting
• effort

And while they risk physically, you risk legally.

If one of them really hurts himself you start your ordeal at court.

Every day you tell yourself: “There is no solution, it’s a job that must be done in this way”.

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BUT THE PROBLEM IS VERY SERIOUS!

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How much does this situation cost?

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How many sleepless nights did you have
thinking about someone who got hurt?

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How many times did one of your operators
ask  for sick leave for back pain?

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How many people got hurt in your plant?

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How much money did you lose to plug all these issues?

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You can’t go on with these issues without doing anything.

I’ve thought about a solution for you, that will solve all your problems once and for all.

I have designed machines that keep the operator behind the pane, admiring my robot while it works.

The operator is far from every risk.

My machine occupies itself with all the work.

The machine is completely closed and the noise gets dampened by means of a soundproof cabin.

Every operation which has to be done, the operator is not involved.

     You change from having constant risk to no risk.

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      3. FIXED COST OF EACH PIECE

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When you have to sell a piece, you have to be certain  how much it will cost you.

You can’t risk offering a higher price, if your price is too high, your client will find another supplier.

So, you have to find your balance, which you can do it in 2 ways:

• You have outsourced the cutting and deburring work (in this way you pass the buck to someone else)
• You don’t look at the cost of the piece, but you strike an average. In other words you try to keep your eyes away from the costs.

All things considered you earn with your method.

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BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM!

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If you want to compete in an increasingly battled market, in which the Chinese also compete, where the competitors are more equipped than you are, then you can’t look on anymore.

Once analysing the deburring costs of one of our clients, we noticed a huge problem!

Our client was outsourcing the deburring and the price he paid to the suppier was really low!

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But there was a big problem,
a trick of Silvan the Wizard!

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The supplier demanded a low price for the deburring of the piece, then he asked another thousand extra for processing (always deburring) that were not planned, that were added day after day with the aging of the mould.

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The client thought he was spending 1€ per piece,
instead he spent 2.5 €!!!

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My client discovering through me that he was losing a fortune! 

So even this client was in the same situation as you, with uncertain costs that were out of control.

In the end, with this client we did a great job.

He installed many of our machines and today he produces the same piece while earning a lot of money.

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If you had installed one of my machines other than reducing your costs
and increasing your margins, you’d know exactly what a piece costs,
you could then have considered the costs at the asking stage,
monitoring your margins… and you would not have
to count upon chance. 

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With my machines the cycle time, the wear of the materials is always constant.

You can calculate the cycle time at the beginning of the mould life and at the end of its working life.

You do not have to depend on your operators. You can equip my machine within a set  time, produce without problems by always having the same cycle time day and night, from Monday to Monday.   

You do not have any costs for rejects due to human mistakes.

You don’t have good pieces mixed with ruined pieces.

The whole process will be easier and more effective with FIXED COSTS.

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4. SICURE DELIVERY TIMES

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How many times did you over estimate with your client, and you told him: tomorrow I’ll deliver the pieces, we’ve cast them already, now we just need to finish the deburring!

Then the imponderable happened!!  A bigger problem than you!

Your worker reported sick, or worse he hurt himself.

So, you replaced the worker with another;  one without enough experience.

How much did he ruin?

The good pieces, almost ready for delivery were turned into rejects.

Instead of delivering the next day you have to start all over again.

Never mind what it costs, but when are you going to deliver?

Meeting deadlines is a critical matter if you want to stay on the market

With my machine you could schedule the work, your work.

You may not have rejects if you work the pieces, and if the estimated working time will be 10 hours, after 10 hours you can deliver.

You do not have to manage the myriad of problems that you have today during the deburring process.

My machine ensures you a certain cycle time, that means a defined “process.”

Shorter delivery times but above all they are reliable.

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5.   LEAN PRODUCTION IN YOUR PLANT

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When I visit companies, I see huge pieces, lying there in an uncertain state.

Each box has its label that says what to do.

If the label falls off, these pieces become pieces that nobody knows what to do with.

You have mountains of pieces costing space, that cost you to shift from one corner to the other of the plant.

Do you think there is no solution, then it’s okay!

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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YOU ARE SPENDING UNNECESSARY MONEY

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You think you have the best factory in the world and then you find yourself  in a casual flow.

You don’t know the pieces anymore you are producing.

You’ve keep the pieces in the factory  for far too long time.

You have too many rejects.

Today the time has finished for this waste.

By using my machines you could reduce the stock and really make a lean process.

During these years I’ve developed a serie of machines to place inside the casting-cell.

My machines are able to finish your pieces directly near the area where you cast the pieces.

To do this, I have developed very compact machines: in a casting cell where there is no space, I can find the space for a cutting and deburring machine.

I design the machines in 3D and optimize the best space; I work on the space in vertical and optimize the use of the robot.

I can simplify your process making it better and more profitable.

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IT IS HUGE PROGRESS BUT
IT IS STILL NOT ENOUGH!

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We were able to interface our machines with blasting machines.

My clients can avoid to stock between the deburring and the grinding: once my robot has finished the cutting and the deburring process, it immediately  starts  with the blasting process.

Every few seconds a piece is ready to be delivered!

With my machines you will have many advantages, and you will ask yourself  how could you  have lived without it for so many years.    

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6.   IDENTICAL PIECES WITH EVERY RETOOLING

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How many times did you see this scene

“ Today we will produce the engine crankcase…. How did we deburr it?

“Take the sheet and let’s see….”

“Yes, on the sheet there’s written this process, but it didn’t work so the last time we tried something different.”

“But how? But why?”

“I don’t remember, let’s see what we have to do…”

Don’t tell me that in your company you’ve never witnessed such a discussion between your foreman and the operator who has to deburr your pieces.

Whenever you start a set lot of goods and you have to work them by hand you will get a masterpiece…. An unprecedented artifact!

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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Your client does not accept these differences, he doesn’t accept that the pieces are different  from each other.

Perhaps, because of this reason, you invested in my competitor’s improvised robotic cell.

Alas! For this reason you convinced yourself that it is better to work by hand.

Some of my competitor killed the market, they’ve convinced you that working by hand is the only solution.

Many times the client who installed a machine of one of my improvised competitors  asked me: isn’t there this problem? And the other?

I look astonished.

They ask me about problems I have never heard of and are inconceivable for me.

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The clients complain that every time they have to retool the
machine they have to spend a lot of hours to adjust the cell
and to modify the robot program, to make it work again.

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I face a lot of mistrust when I explain that in 3 minutes you can retool the machine.

To convince my mistrusting client I have to take the drawings and projects of  our much copied machines. 

I explain in detail how I can solve the problems and how I can deliver a jewel of a machine.

There are many solutions to ensure a quick and painless retooling, without needing a skilled programmer:

• a work unit designed and built by me

• compensation systems for each active tool

• integrated  base

• gripper and fast tool connection systems

• advanced supervision systems in which the operator has a real help during the retooling.

With my machines when you undertake the retooling you have to do nothing.

You put the tools, mount the gripper on the robot and start the production.

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The first produced piece is good, the second
is the same and so on until the production ends:

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This is my guarantee!

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7. LESS LOGISTIC COSTS

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Have you ever evaluated how much you spend for the indoor and outdoor transport of your pieces?

In your company there are forklifts that move like frightened horses.

If you give the work outside you also have to have boxes full of pieces to load into the truck and to discharge.

The logistic costs are increasingly important.

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YOU THINK THAT IT IS NORMAL…..

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……BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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Think about the cost of an injury, think if one of your forklift drivers while he is moving stacks of boxes falls against someone.

If you have a company you should be even more sensitive: if your forklift driver plays dead (God forbid, but it may happen) you go to jail!

In this case the logistic costs being important today become unsustainable.

By using my machines you may reduce a lot of the costs.

Could you stop moving pieces from one side to the other of the factory, you could stop wasting unnecessary money, and you may reduce your risk.

The solutions we offer allow you to combine multiple stages of your process, by reducing storage, waiting areas, reserves.

You could reduce the number of boxes you need to manage the production.

You may use the waiting areas for  production zones.

You reduce the costs and increase your earning capacity.

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8.    LESS COSTS FOR WASTE PRODUCTS

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When you produce a detail, you should always pay attention to the rejects you will have.

You know, even before starting that you will find thousands of troubles and unexpected events.

If you have an order for 1,000 pieces, and you cast 1,100 just to be sure… but in the end you can only deliver 900 to your client.

So, you think you are an entrepreneur, you think you can produce more pieces to compensate for the rejects you have during the life of the piece.

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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You have increasingly less margins
and you burn them immediately.

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There is no more margine for a mistake.

Each rejected piece is a pang in your heart but especially for your wallet.

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Why do you have so many rejects?

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It depends on the man.

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I have already told you everything.

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You can’t think that your process is in your operator’s hands, who can’t give you any security.

You know well that the foundry is not a pharmacy, it is a difficult environment and to find skilled and methodical operators is always difficult.

You do everything all right!

You design the mould together with your client, you invest in sophisticated casting machines, you check the alloy, make X-rays on your pieces then you give the finishing work to an operator who doesn’t even understand the importance of what he is doing. 

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BUT THE SITUATION IS WORSE THAN YOU THINK!

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You give him a rough diamond and he transfoms it into a stone to through into the sea.

An American friend of mine always tells me: “If the car is clean it runs faster!”

If your piece it cut  and deburred well , it also has better mechanical properties.

It fits in the tollerances of the drawing and your client will have a better opinion of you.

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So you have no choice…

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Investing in robotic cells  will make your process easier,
leaner and  your rejects will be reduced.

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By using my machines your worker will be just a machine assistant.

His real task will be entrusted to my machine that was not born for doing rejects.

I thought about a tooling system for making the machine easier to use and making rejects impossible.

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YOUR FACTORY IS DYING!

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IF YOU WAIT ANY MORE,
YOU WILL SLOWLY DIE..

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Now you really have the tools to understand that it is late.

You will take the benefits when you start using my solution.

These will be:

• Investment returns in derisory time
• Increased safety in your factory
• Incremental  gains
• Sicure production costs
• Punctual deliveries
• No rejects

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With concrete results, such as:

• More profit margins
• More satisifed clients
• Less headaches

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WHY ARE YOU WAITING TO CHANGE GEAR?

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Piercarlo Bonomi

The Main Expert in Robotic Cutting and Deburring Machines