Lean Robotics: A Guide to Making Robots Work in Your Factory

How productive was your robot today? For the majority of manufacturers, this question is irrelevant. Because even if you know that robots are about to change your factory for the better, you likely haven’t installed your first one yet. Perhaps that’s because you think robots are too costly and too complicated. Rightfully so, because whenever you ask if robots could work in your factory, the answer you receive is always a hesitant “It depends.” It depends on your factory, your team, which robot you choose, what you want it to do… and a whole lot more. Those who have deployed robots in their factories know too well what that’s about. Even the most enthusiastic robot adopters can find their projects plagued by malfunctioning communication channels—among humans as well as robotic components. So if you're a first-time robot user, how can you get started? How do you get from your initial idea to a productive, working robot? And if you’ve already got a few robotic deployments under your belt, how can you scale up your robotics efforts throughout your factory—or across multiple factories? The answers can be found in lean robotics: a methodology for simplifying robotic cell deployments. Lean robotics is a systematic way to complete the robotic cell deployment cycle, from design to integration and operation. It will empower your team to deploy robots quicker and more efficiently than ever before. This book is the result of Bouchard’s decade of experience at Robotiq. The Robotiq team has helped thousands of manufacturers overcome manufacturing challenges using robots: from car component makers to electronics contract manufacturing firms; from first-time robot users to robotic experts looking at new ways to automate; and from Fortune 500 companies to family-owned machine shops. Whether you're a manufacturing manager or engineer, if you’re ready to make robots work for you, this book will show you how.

Samuel Bouchard is the CEO of Robotiq, a company that he co-founded in 2008. Robotiq today serves manufacturers globally and has become a dominant voice in the fast-growing collaborative robots industry. It has also been recognized by Robotics Trends as one of the Top 50 most influential companies in robotics. Bouchard holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor's in Engineering Physics from Laval University. He lives in Québec City with his wife and four children.