In manufacturing, a weak link can decrease productivity and increase cost. For a large coffee roaster processing 650,000 bags of beans each year, that weak link was a robot used to unload pallets stacked with bags of raw beans to a conveyor that feeds the roaster. The robot's gripper arm was tearing the burlap bags and spilling coffee beans on the floor. This caused safety issues, wasted about 100,000 pounds of beans every year and directed expensive labor to clean up duty.
展开▼
