When purchasing an industrial robotic arm, every customer wants to enhance its productivity. Some factors can be controlled to reduce the robot’s downtime on a production line. One element that can be easily managed is the downtime that is related maintenance.
Since most companies want to get the shortest maintenance time to get back into production, there isn’t a lot of laxities. What this means is that changes must be fast and effective which is why you should consider building a toolbox for spare parts. Here are some of the top spare parts that you should have in your toolbox for industrial robot arm maintenance.
Robot Grease
Most types of robots require regular gear greasing. Therefore, it is essential to have the right kind of robot grease in your possession if you want to perform the maintenance effectively. If you want to enhance the application of the grease, ensure that you use a grease gun or pump.
Teach pendant
When customers experience connectivity problems with the industrial robot’s controller, teach pendant is always the starting point. This the most common problem with industrial robot support services. Therefore, replacement and troubleshooting is always easier and better if you store a teach pendant cable or an extra pendant.
Robot Batteries
Another spare part that is a good idea to have in your toolbox is robot batteries. Always ensure that you keep extra batteries for your controller and industrial robot arm. These components are easy to change and store, so you have no excuse not to have extra ones. Remember, this will allow you to keep your system in working order with very minimal downtime.
Motors
Motors, as well as routers and amplifiers, are essential components for the functionality of your industrial robot arm. Having spare parts for these in your toolbox will help prevent long shutdown times on the production line. Therefore, it is important always to consider small parts that might burn out such as the motors found inside an industrial robotic arm’s electric gripper.
Consumables
Consumables can be as vital to you as having welding wire in stock for a welding robot, depending on the application. Parts that make up the end effector such as pads and suction cups should be considered as consumable parts. Most manufacturers of industrial robot arms can provide you with a list of spare parts that can be useful in case of an aberrant use or impact.
Why having spare parts is important
Once your company has started automating production processes with industrial robots, you will never look back. This is because you will quickly learn how to depend on the consistent and reliable output day after day. Simply put, most companies especially in the world of manufacturing can’t afford downtime that will have an impact on profitability and productivity. One of the less known benefits of an industrial robot arm is its long-term reliability and nearly maintenance-free operation. This is still applicable even in the dirtiest and toughest environments that would put any human worker to the test.
Are you fully prepared for your robot maintenance?
Once you have the spare parts mentioned earlier in your toolbox, you need to research lead times and technician availability in advance. Depending on what your application for the industrial robot arm is, consider scheduling maintenance during July or Christmas where you can have a shutdown without stressing about meeting production deadlines because everyone is on a short break. All you need to do is make sure that all the spare parts you need are on-site before starting maintenance. Depending on the complexity of the job, be prepared for your robot arm to be unavailable for use between six and fourteen hours.
With these few tips, you should be able to reduce your downtime because of maintenance. When the production has to continue, having the right part at the right time is always a good thing.