Robots, cobots… Did you say automation?

As you can see, the primary goal of automation is to improve our industrial performance, while freeing up time for our operators so that they can focus on more interesting and complex tasks. So, drudgery is reduced or even eliminated in some manual operations.

Obviously, the concept of competitiveness comes into play in this equation. The more competitive our production equipment is, the more attractive we will be to our customers. Increasing productivity and our ability to produce in large volumes is therefore key.

With digitalisation, automation is one of the key pillars of our Smart Industry strategy, which we have been deploying in our production plants for several years.

On the customer side, automation brings numerous benefits:

1. A significant competitive edge. Automation effectively makes it possible to optimise production costs and thus envisage the relocation of large series in Europe and the bringing together of our factories with those of our customers (known as “nearshoring”).
2. Enhanced production quality. Automation reduces the risk of errors that could be made by employees, particularly in operations requiring high precision. Here, reliability is key.
3. Extended flexibility. In some cases, automation offers greater flexibility with regard to production rates and volumes. Production and delivery times are therefore shortened, providing customers with a better cost/quality/lead time ratio.

Know more about our SMART INDUSTRY strategy

To meet the growing demands of our customers in terms of volume, precision and cost, we have set up a unit dedicated to automation at LACROIX. A new position has been created to coordinate these activities, the Group Automation Manager (my current job).

For over a year now, a cross-functional team distributed across the four countries where our production plants are located (France, Germany, Poland and Tunisia) has been experimenting with new processes day after day.

Organisation in this way enables us to increase our expertise in automation by creating an expert network comprising 10 people who are in constant contact with each other to discuss ongoing projects. Standardising our automation processes is also an important aspect of our approach. Our customers, whether from the industrial, automotive, home automation or avionics sectors, must have access to the same production standards. Of course, we take the specificities of each plant into account.

Then, there are the cobots. These are collaborative robots that can be adapted to perform several handling activities in a single day. Equipped with safety sensors, they can work safely with operators. There is a difference between cohabitation and collaboration:

• In cohabitation, the cobot operates in “co-proximity” with the operator. Each performs their task without direct interaction.
• In collaboration, there is actual interaction between cobot and operator. For example, the cobot passes the product to the operator (or vice versa).

In addition to the robots and cobots present in our factories, we can also find AGVs for automated equipment transport and automated logistics systems (the future automated store Exotec, for example).

On the LACROIX side, we work with reputable suppliers such as Fanuc, Mitsubishi, MIR and Omron to deploy automation projects with the support of organisations such as We Network. Our robots and cobots respond to different use cases: handling, placement, soldering, screwing, assembly, integration, transport, etc.

Automation in key figures… 

• 15 automation projects deployed
• 400 hours dedicated to technical training and workshops
• A 10-strong team distributed over four sites
• 100 robots by 2025
• Several hundred employees working with cobots and robots

Weeboo: Cobot for loading and unloading reels on an X-ray counting machine

500 reels per day

Free loading by the operator

Internal/multi-customer use

Fanuc: Robot for loading and unloading testers, stripping press and packaging

Cycle time: 20 seconds

Industrial market

Timon : AGV (Automated Guided Vehicule), automatic extraction of finished products

300 jobs per week

50 km travelled per week

Multi-market

Omron : Automatic screwing

20,000 screws per week

Working in co-proximity with operators

Industrial market

Exotec : Automated warehouse fitted with the Skypod system

Structure measuring approximately 500 m2

6,720 containers stored 9 m high on 21 levels

7 robots

Multi-customer

Automated production line: Loading and unloading testers

Cycle time 8 seconds

25 product references

Home automation market

Integration: Automatic integration station

5 processes in one unit

48 products per hour

Automotive market

FCT tester: Handling of automated functional testers

2 testers and 1 screwing station

3 stations embedded in a system

150 products per hour

Automotive market

Soldering robot

5 seconds per soldering point

4 product references

Home automation market