Sometimes, seeing a problem in action can be the driving force to find a solution. Such was the case with Kitchener, Ontario-based Cober Solutions. Todd Cober, president of the company, explains that as the company grew, it became clear that robotics could be the answer to improve its productivity.
“At peak season, I watched the madness ensue around me and noticed there were so many people moving stuff and everyone was busy, but quite often, they weren’t busy at their work center,” he says. “They were busy taking stuff to the next work center.”
At first, Cober invested in autonomous vehicles and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) to eliminate time lost between tasks as employees took time to move materials from point to point. Then, in 2022, Cober installed a new Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106-8P with plate-to-unit robotics. However, it soon became evident the company needed to invest in more equipment to prevent bottlenecks.
“That was a big step for us; it opened up a ton of business and our offset side of the business really flourished,” Cober explains. “But that just pushed the bottlenecks downstream to the point where we had to invest in more folding.”
To alleviate the mounting congestion, Cober invested in a new Heidelberg Stahlfolder TH 82 with PFX Feeder and a six-axis Heidelberg StackStar P industrial robot to match the speed of the Speedmaster, something not possible with human intervention.
“We started to look at how fast we could fold 16-page signatures, and to expect a human to keep up with that was unrealistic,” he says.
Not only would it be unrealistic to expect a human to keep up with those speeds, but for repetitive or heavy-labor tasks, it’s not unreasonable to consider employee retention as a key driver in adopting robotics.
In some cases, employing a human to complete laborious tasks – such as lifting plates every 3,000 sheets – is a full time job … and not a glamorous one at that. And although Cober explains that the happiness of an employee is difficult to quantify, robotics can help improve that happiness.
“Robotics allow us to be super efficient without killing our people,” he says.
Robotics for Repetition and More
Keeping employees in a challenging labor market is crucial, and robotics may be able to play a pivotal role in this. Greg Cholmondeley, who recently retired as a principal analyst at Keypoint Intelligence, points to an “unconventional” way to look at the printing industry when it comes to robotics.
“An unconventional, but insightful, way to view production printing is to see it as more about moving paper than printing,” he says. “From start to finish, the process revolves around material movement. … This is where robotics can have a tremendous impact.”
For example, Cober’s move into robotics began as an initiative to move materials around its facility without human intervention. Cober’s transition to robotic implementation illustrates a solid argument that the technology can alleviate bottlenecks and relieve skilled operators from menial tasks.
R.R. Donnelley (RRD), based in Chicago, Illinois, recently announced that it was investing in first-to-market robotic technologies and advanced digital print presses – including a new HP Indigo 120K Digital Press and PageWide Advantage 2200 with HP Brilliant Ink – from HP at its Austell, Georgia, facility. Part of that investment, Craig Roberton, president of Commercial Print at RRD, explains, is using robotics to address labor challenges.
“The labor force is getting more challenging to find the right people in the right location, so certainly robotics help address those industry challenges,” he says. “It also helps address production efficiency, consistency, cost management, and by automating certain manual tasks so we improve downtime and increase throughput.”
Roberton says the new technology is intended to give clients a better way to go to market “with more robust equipment to better target their clients.” That’s because the two AMRs RRD is implementing are completely autonomous, with smart camera systems and intelligent software that communicates directly with the HP Indigo presses. The system, Roberton explains, makes everything “continuously operational.”
The AMRs, coupled with the new presses, will help RRD grow its personalization and direct targeting – and this is only “step one,” Roberton says.
“We fully believe it’s going to be highly successful based on just the preliminary feedback we’ve gotten and the testing we’ve done,” he says. “There’s plans, both short-term and long-term, in existing facilities, and we’re starting to ramp up to add additional capacity capabilities and robotics.”
It also allows employees to focus on “higher-value tasks.”
“The long-term economic benefits of AI-driven robotics in commercial printing include streamlined material movement reducing manual labor and operational costs,” Cholmondeley points out. “This allows staff to focus on higher-value tasks like design, prepress, production, finishing, quality assurance, and customer support, improving efficiency and productivity over time.”
Cober echoes these sentiments, noting that it’s important to use people for what they were hired to do.
“We feel like [robotics] can really impact our productivity, because skilled operators will be able to do what skilled operators should do, and that’s make stuff rather than push a skid,” he says.
Transparency is Key
Robotics can also provide a strong ROI, especially humanoid robots, Cholmondeley explains. He notes that with a subscription model, costs are shifted from “capital expenses to operating expenses, similar to labor.” Subscriptions then look like salaries, but as Cholmondeley points out, “robots don’t retire or quit, although they may require downtime for recharging and maintenance, with service contracts replacing benefits packages.”
“Unlike human labor, over time, costs are likely to decrease rather than rise,” he says. “And, with standardized systems, onboarding a new robot could be as simple as a software update, eliminating the need for traditional training and transition planning.”
When considering the resilience and reliability of robots compared to human employees, PSPs might be met with some resistance from employees in adopting robotics. This exact scenario came up at the recent PRINTING United Alliance Leadership Summit (see sidebar on page 20 for more information).
One way to address resistance to robotics, or automation in general, is to introduce it to the workforce early and be as transparent as possible. It was a lesson learned the hard way for Cober. He notes that while he thought the new technology was exciting, some employees perceived it as threatening to their job security.
“We really learned how to introduce it into the workforce,” he says. “We’ve had the fortunate position to not introduce any of this automation or any of these robotics through job loss. It’s always been, ‘Here’s a new tool for you to do your job better,’ and that’s been a success for us. It’s been introduced as a tool for them to make their life easier. It isn’t to replace any jobs.”
It’s good advice to follow for any PSP considering adding automation to their workflow, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every PSP will be met with resistance. According to Roberton, when RRD shared the news with the sales management team that it would be adding the new digital technology and robotics, they were “extremely thrilled. … The employees were even more ecstatic and excited about it.”
Not only can robotics and automation be a solution to lingering labor challenges, it’s also an opportunity to help attract younger generations to the workforce. Roberton notes that at the most recent drupa, some of the student attendees he noticed were excited about the new technology, automation, and artificial intelligence.
The rate at which robotics and automation technology is evolving is meteoric. And while Cholmondeley notes that in the next decade it is likely to remain a niche application, if there is an industry-wide effort to further the advancement, it could result in significant changes to the industry.
“If a dedicated group (such as the Ghent Workgroup) drives development, sets standards, and raises awareness among robotics companies and industry leaders, it could transform the industry and make today’s printing operations seem as outdated as Gutenberg presses in 20 years,” he says.
If there is one piece of advice he could give to PSPs considering investment in robotic technologies, it’s to start the automation journey now.
“Think of your operation as a custom product manufacturer, not just a job shop,” he advises. “Be willing to let go of outdated processes and software. Holding onto familiar systems can create a patchwork of automation that’s difficult to manage, turning into more of a burden than a solution.”
