A robot is a standalone system, typically consisting of the robot body, electrical control cabinet, and teach pendant; it is a standard product. For a robot to function effectively, it needs to be integrated with numerous peripheral devices to form an efficient industrial automated production system.
System integration solution providers are located at the downstream application end of the robot industry chain, providing application solutions to end customers. They are responsible for the development and integration of industrial robot software systems and are an important component of industrial robot automation applications.
Robot system integration includes the following five aspects:
• Design of end effector and tooling fixture
• On-site industrial control software and information interaction
• Offline programming simulation and virtual production line design
• On-site sensing/measurement and control
• Integrated application of advanced manufacturing processes
Characteristics of robot system integration
• Characteristics of intelligent equipment projects: increasingly trending towards personalization, customization, and green technologies;
• Manufacturing requirements: high-quality/variable-batch production, mixed-line production, pursuit of low cost, energy conservation and emission reduction;
• Technical features: It embodies intelligence, replaces human labor with machines, and achieves highly flexible production and processing operations.
Existing problems in the system integration industry
a. Project drawings are "discarded after each completion." System integration projects are non-standardized, with very low similarity between projects and virtually no reproducibility; once a project is completed, all drawings are rendered useless.
b. Technical skills are essential for project work. Since robot integration involves secondary development, a thorough understanding of downstream industries is required, placing high demands on technical personnel.
c. Advance payment is common. Payment for system integration usually follows the "361" or "3331" method. During the design, production, and processing process, the cost of purchased materials plus the cost of personnel generally accounts for 60%-70%, exceeding the amount of the prepayment. In this case, the integrator will advance funds.
d. With many competitors, it's difficult to scale up. Of 10 robot companies, 9 are integrators. Currently, domestic integrators are not large in scale, with most having sales revenue of less than 100 million yuan. Those that can reach 500 million yuan are industry leaders, and those with more than 1 billion yuan are few and far between nationwide.
