Mobile Robots Help Honeywell Stay Agile and Lean

As part of its optimisation efforts, Honeywell Analytics uses automation and robotics extensively. However, raw materials and assemblies were still being moved around the 91,000 square meter plant on trolleys pushed by employees. Automating that task was challenging due to the facility layout, where the warehouse is on one floor and manufacturing across two floors. Delivering materials between manufacturing lines and the warehouse involves navigating multiple narrow corridors and double fire doors and controlling lifts to travel between floors—key functionality that wasn’t supported by other mobile robots. Design Engineer Timothy Ward said, “When we were initially selecting a mobile robot, the others did not have full lift functionality. They would not be able to support it. That meant that MiR was the stand-out from the range of different products.”

Mobile Robots Improve Efficiency and Free up to Six Full-Time Employees

Honeywell has deployed three MiR100 robots in its Poole facility. The MiR robots reduce the time people push trolleys around so they can be up-skilled for better efficiency. “The main challenge with the MiR robot we want to overcome is the staff, who are allocated to pushing carts,” said Ward. “We wanted them to get back onto the production line and drive efficiency. By bringing the MiR robots on-site, we are freeing up six full-time staff members to produce more and make the line more efficient.”

Freeing employees from low-value material-transportation tasks also supports lean manufacturing goals, including having multi-skilled staff who can work on various production lines as needed. “We like to have staff that can be multi-trained and multi-skilled so they can work in different parts of the business and help level-load the product,” Ward said. In that way, the MiR robots fit right in—quickly learning new routes and processes to adapt to changing production needs.

Powerful Software Integrates into Existing Systems

Honeywell Analytics uses the MiR Fleet software to manage three robots in its dynamic environment. The software assigns tasks to available and nearby robots and ensures safe, efficient operation. Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Leader Stuart Harris explained, “Because we have multiple robots here, we needed a fleet manager to assign tasks to the robots and make sure that we have only got one robot in a place, particularly, for example, a narrow corridor, where we only want one robot at a time. The fleet manager looks after that for us.” The software was also used to manage elements such as robot speed so that the robot could move faster in some areas and slower in others. When a robot’s battery is low, it automatically returns to a charging station while it waits for further orders.