ABB launches next-generation cobots to boost automation in new sectors and for beginners

GoFa™ and SWIFTI™ are intuitively designed so customers don’t need the help of programming specialists. This will unlock industries with low levels of automation, with customers able to get their cobot up and running within minutes of installation, without specialized training.

“Our new cobot portfolio is the most diverse on the market, offering the potential to transform workplaces and help our customers achieve new levels of operational performance and growth,” said Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation Business Area. “They are easy to use and are configured and supported by our global network of online service experts to ensure that companies of all sizes and new sectors of the economy, in addition to the manufacturing sector, can incorporate robots for the first time.”

The expansion of ABB’s cobot product portfolio is designed to help existing and new robot users accelerate automation by following four key megatrends: customization, labor shortages, digitalization, and uncertainty, which are transforming business and driving automation into new sectors of the economy. The expansion continues the business area’s focus on high-growth segments through product portfolio innovation, helping to drive profitable growth.

Automation Drives the Future of Manufacturing

In a global survey1 of 1,650 large and small companies across Europe, the United States, and China, 84% of companies said they will increase their use of robotics and automation in the next decade, while 85% said the pandemic had been “game-changing” for their business and industry, with COVID-19 being a driver for accelerating investment in automation. Nearly half of companies (43%) said they were looking at robotics to help them improve workplace health and safety, 51% said robotics could improve social distancing, and more than a third (36%) were considering using automation to improve their employees’ work quality. Furthermore, 78% of company executives and managers said it was a challenge to recruit and retain staff for repetitive and ergonomically challenging jobs.

Cobots: A Growing Trend

Cobots are designed to operate in the presence of workers without the need for physical safety measures, such as fences, and to be very easy to use and install. In 2019, more than 22,000 new collaborative robots were deployed worldwide, a 19% increase over the previous year. Demand for collaborative robots is estimated to grow 17% between 2020 and 2025,3 while the value of global cobot sales is expected to increase from $0.7 billion in 2019 to $1.4 billion in 2025.4 The global market for all industrial robots is projected to grow from $45 billion in 2020 to $58 billion by 2023 (CAGR of 12%).5

New Cobots: Uses and Benefits

GoFa™ and SWIFTI™ are designed to assist in business automation processes to collaborate with workers on tasks including material handling, machine tending, component assembly, and packaging in manufacturing, medical laboratories, logistics centers and warehouses, workshops, and small production facilities.

“With this expansion, we’re making cobots easier to use and acquire, with real-time support, to help accelerate their acquisition in businesses that may not have previously considered their use,” Atiya explained. “Our goal is for better-performing operations to leverage human skills, along with the potential of new technologies.”

Users will be able to easily program and reprogram the new cobots with a tablet or smartphone, using ABB’s rapid configuration tools. Customers will also benefit from ABB’s global expertise and applications in the industry, developed through the installation of more than 500,000 robot solutions since 1974 and supported by ABB’s network of more than 1,000 global partners.

The new GoFa™ and SWIFTI™ cobot families build on the success of ABB’s YuMi family, which has been helping companies safely automate key tasks with YuMi, the world’s first truly collaborative robot launched in 2015. Today, ABB’s YuMi cobots are working alongside people in factories, workshops, and laboratories around the world, performing tasks from screwing and assembling electronic and electrical components to manufacturing valves and USB drives, and testing COVID samples in laboratories.

Every ABB cobot installation includes a starter pack powered by ABB Ability™ diagnostics and condition monitoring and free 24/7 support for the first six months to access ABB technical assistance, which offers support across all industry segments.

For more information, visit our website.

Click here for the GoFa™ press pack and here for SWIFTI™.

[1] ABB Industry Survey January 2021. Conducted by 3Gem Global Market Research & Insights, ABB’s survey of 1,650 CEOs or Managing Directors at large and small companies in the US, China, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Sweden, covers sectors such as technology, retail, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, automation, food and beverage, leisure, FMCG, and transportation and logistics executives. Conducted from December 26, 2020, to January 19, 2021. 3Gem Research & Insights uses industry-standard panel management systems and adheres to strict quality control procedures, offering GDPR-compliant B2B and consumer panels that are dual-opt-in compliant.