a textile factory in Zhejiang, China, running ten mobile transport units on its production lines
A Zhejiang Textile Plant's Ten Line Side Robots: 70% Lower Transport Cost
A textile factory in Zhejiang, China ran ten transport robots. The supplier reports full ROI in 3.5 months, 70% lower transport cost and 22% higher uptime.
- 10
- Mobile transport units running on the production lines
- 3.5 months
- Full return on investment, as reported by the supplier
- 70%
- Cut in manual material transport cost, supplier reported
- 22%
- Rise in production line uptime, supplier reported
Based on a documented real-world deployment. Figures are from public reporting; the organization is not named.
Line side material moves that depended on people
On a textile production floor, much of the real work is moving material. Bins, boxes and heavy loads have to reach each station when the line needs them, and every late delivery shows up as a stopped machine or an idle operator.
The factory in this case handled its line side supply by hand. Manual transport carried a steady labor cost, and it depended on people walking the same routes shift after shift, which left little room to absorb a busy day or a gap in staffing.
- Manual transport cost that grew with every move between stations
- Line stops that waited on material to arrive
- Skilled staff tied up with hauling rather than production work
Ten X300 units matched to each station
The robot supplier placed ten units from its X300 series, a line of autonomous mobile robots sold in three forms. The lift version handles line side storage and can stand in for manual forklift moves, the flat version carries bins and boxes and feeds stations, and the multilayer pallet version suits precision electronics lines.
The series navigates with dual SLAM, combining laser and visual mapping, and the supplier says it needs no extra infrastructure on the floor. Operators control the units through a 10.1 inch touch screen with icon based start, go, stop and charge commands, which makes the day to day controls easy to learn.
- Floor survey and mapping before any unit moves
- Choosing the X300 form that suits each station
- Phased rollout of the ten units onto the lines
- Operator training on the touch screen controls
- Ongoing service and maintenance support after go live
What the supplier measured
The supplier reports that the ten units cut manual material transport cost by 70%. It also reports full return on investment in about 3.5 months, a payback period that is short for a deployment of this size.
Production line uptime rose 22% over the same deployment. Steady line side supply keeps stations fed, and the supplier's account ties the two gains together.
The supplier also says the labor freed from hauling moved toward quality control, maintenance and process improvement, rather than staying on carts.
These are the supplier's own figures from one factory, so treat them as a benchmark for line side logistics rather than a forecast for another site.
What this means for a US line side logistics project
A factory moving material by hand has three decisions in front of it: which robot form fits each station, how the floor gets mapped, and who keeps the units running once they are live. Service Robot Co. is a full service, OEM neutral commercial robot integrator for US businesses. We select the right robots across manufacturers, then finance, deploy, integrate, train and service every unit through a nationwide US engineer network, so one partner handles the whole lifecycle.
Service Robot Co. leases robots only, on a three year lease with one fixed payment quoted after a site assessment. That keeps the capital question simple, and a phased deployment with go live support lets the line keep working while units come online. Robot leasing for business tends to go best when the assessment comes first.
Frequently asked questions
Want a robot working for you?
Tell us the job and the site. We will recommend the robot, quote the lease, and keep it serviced.