Economic efficiency of a robotic complex for stacking dairy products

The article deals with estimating economic efficiency of a robotic complex (RC) at the EFKO group plant which stacks ready dairy products on trays and in bottles from 6 production lines onto pallets using a palletizer robot and conveyor equipment for products and pallets. The authors demonstrate an RC scheme with the description of its components. They have collected and analyzed the information on the current productivity, weight and size characteristics and location of production lines of a robotic complex for stacking dairy products. The article presents the principle for calculating the required productivity and lifting capacity of the palletizer robot. The authors demonstrate a preproduction model mounted at the EFKO group plant. The complex makes it possible to reduce the labor intensity, improve the quality of stacking, decrease the number of human errors. Its implementation and exploitation will reduce the number of employees. The article presents calculations of economic effect on the stage of planning and after the project’s realization. To this end the authors use traditional methods of investment and qualitative analysis. They determine basic economic indicators such as the amount of capital investments and the terms of the RC implementation, change in the number of staff, maintenance costs, reduction of the “working†area of the warehouse due to the placement of the equipment. The article contains the basic landmarks for determining the standard payback period. According to the data received the authors additionally calculated the indicators of economic efficiency: profitability ratio of capital investment into automation, percentage reduction in unit cost, labor productivity growth. The authors monitored the RC performance efficiency after its implementation at a real production plant of the EFKO group. In conclusion they compare the results of the monitoring with the calculations of the economic effect made at the planning stage. The results adduced can be useful for those who develop automation equipment for packing and storing, and to those who are interested in productivity and quality improvement.