Robot colleagues boost the bottom line

END USER: Stantræk A/S, +45-86-22-03-77, www.stantraek.dk.
CHALLENGE: Up productivity without increasing payroll.
SOLUTION: Adding robotic production.
SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Armiga A/S, +45-97-98-25-18, www.armiga.dk; Universal Robots A/S, +45-89-93-89-89, www.universal-robots.com.

Stantræk A/S has found a way to expand production without significantly increasing payroll—from 2008 to 2013, revenue increased from $4 to $7 million while headcount only went from 21 to 28. To help boost production without increasing payroll, the Lystrup, Denmark, contract manufacturer purchased new “employees” from Armiga A/S, Thisted, Denmark.

Specifically, Stantræk added two new UR5 robotic arms from Universal Robots A/S, Odense, Denmark, to its production line. (Universal Robots USA Inc. is in East Setauket, N.Y.) This has allowed Stantræk to win job bids that would otherwise have gone to lower-wage eastern European countries, according to the company.

“We would like to grow without hiring more people in production,” said Stantræk CEO Morten Petri Lauritsen. “We’re receiving new orders and addressing the added demand through automation. Within the next 5 years, we plan on adding another five to seven robots. They’ll be even easier to integrate since we’ve learned so much through our experience with the first ones.”

Courtesy of Universal Robots

Poul Lave, a Stantræk production line worker, programs a UR5 robot from Universal Robots using a tablet.