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Rent cobots instead of buying them

Bayer bietet seit kurzem Cobots für den Bereich der Palettierung im Rahmen eines Mietmodells an und besetzt damit eine Nische im Markt für Automatisierungstechnik.

Cobot utilisation is picking up speed in Germany. The automation specialist Bayer is now offering cobots for palletising as part of a rental model. The rental model is "Klaus", a highly specialised cobot based on a basic model from robot manufacturer Yaskawa.

The company thus occupies a niche in the market for automation technology - because Offers of this kind are currently still rare. The Cobot "Klaus", which is equipped with a suction or jaw gripper as standard and does not require the use of costly compressed air, is available for hire. 

"Many companies that actually have a great need for support in palletising are still hesitant about using cobots. The reason for this is safety concerns, which, however, usually prove to be unfounded during live use on site. We want to dispel these concerns with the option of renting a cobot - and thus give potential users the chance to utilise the great potential that lies in this topic in the future."

Uwe Kranz, Managing Director at Bayer

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Kranz also describes the rental model as an important strategic step towards acquiring new customers. Because once you are convinced by the Cobot, you often decide to use it permanently. 

Rental cobot in use at Unilever Heilbronn for the first time

Rental cobot "Klaus" was first deployed at Unilever's Heilbronn site, where products for the Knorr brand are manufactured. In April 2023, a short-notice restructuring at the site resulted in the maintenance of one of the large, automated palletising stations. As a result, the finished containers had to be palletised manually for a week. Whereas in the past, a different solution was used in such cases, Unilever decided to use cobots for the first time this year. The decisive factor was the possibility of hiring two cobots for the required period.

Unilever project engineer Thomas Bittner comments: "At this point, we had already repeatedly addressed the question, Whether the use of cobots pays off for us. However, we hesitated for a long time because the monetary outlay involved is not insignificant."

The use of cobots in palletising at the Unilever plant in Heilbronn was so successful that the company is currently considering expanding the two systems, which currently still have to manage without central palletising, permanently with its own cobots.

Bayer's cobot rental model provides for the Cobot use alternatively in single-shift, two-shift or three-shift operation before. In practice: If the tenant decides to purchase the rental property after the tenancy has expired, a previously agreed percentage of the rent paid up to that point is offset against the purchase price.

Source: Bayer

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