It has been a long time since manufacturers turned much of their high-volume production lines over to robots; keeping the giant automated beasts behind tall fences, working 24 hours a day on the same small set of tasks year after year. This highly successful application of robotic technology is, however, equally narrow, especially when considering the potential of the new generation of collaborative robots, With safety features, integration and easy redeployability built into the machines themselves, they are designed to work hand-in-hand with their operators, share the same workspace and automate the 'boring stuff in the much broader market of small-parts assembly and lower-volume production. Put simply they are intended to extend manufacturing flexibility; to enable businesses to keep up with the ever-decreasing product life-cycle and changing customer demands.
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