France: GT Logistics installs Sawyer robot in production line

05.10.2017

France: GT Logistics installs Sawyer robot in production line
Supply Chain Magazine, 05 Oct 2017, online:-
GT Logistics has chosen the Promo-Caf factory in Nogent-le-Phaye, northern France for the installation of Rethink Robotics' second robot, Sawyer. The one-armed Sawyer is distributed in France by HumaRobotics, of which GT Logistics is a 33% shareholder. Sawyer works in the production line of the events logistics company, which produces gift packages and boxes for clients like L'Oréal, Paco Rabanne, and Guerlain. Production rates are between 350 and 500 packages an hour, and in busy periods the company hires temporary workers, which now includes Sawyer. The objective of the installation of Sawyer is not to increase production, but to decrease arduous working conditions, and the rhythm at which the robot works is determined by a person. Sawyer costs about EUR 35,000 (USD 41,819.35), not including supplementary equipment, installation, programming, or training of technicians and maintenance workers. In 2016, a total of 294,000 industrial robots were purchased in the world, mostly in China, the US, Germany, South Korea, and Japan, with 4,200 in France. Though this represents a 39% increase from 2015, France remains known for its reticence regarding industrial automation.
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