Use of programmable, highly reliable, and predictable robots is a growing trend in wood manufacturing where they can be used to remove workers from unsafe conditions and inherently force safer methods. The manufacturing costs from removing worker compensation liability alone can be recovered with just one robot.
Wood manufacturing is well known for a variety of hazards including dust inhalation during sanding and cutting, chemical inhalation caused by chemical wood treatments, as well as the dangers of eye or skin injuries from thrown wood particles. Metal injuries from staples, plus fire and explosion hazards if wood dust accumulates in machinery, are also a risk. According to OSHA statistics in 2009, 21 fatalities occurred in the wood industry. OSHA also reports that "since 1980, more than 130 workers have been killed and more than 780 injured in combustible dust explosions."
Placing robots into previously dangerous, traditionally manual situations provides other potential benefits, as well. For example, a large manufacturer of wood boxes for various packaging products historically hand-produced boxes using a special self-produced tacker head for the metal staples fastening the box. The tacker is unique as the staples are directly produced from a metal line just before being stapled on the wood, at speeds of two seconds for 12 staples.
This continuous flow stapling has been patented, but box production heavily relied on manpower, preventing the workers from making more complex products. Also, the tacker head produces a blowback when stapling the agraffes (a hook and loop fastener) on the box, which could injure workers. In addition, the demand for boxes was increasing at such a rate that production needed to be pursued at night and on weekends.
With a new robotic system installed, the robots build wood boxes quickly for the metal parts holding the slates on roofs. The plant workers are now working on more complex boxes. In this installation, one robot takes the boxes from the pallet (four sides plus bottom at one time with one gripper). The wooden parts are simply lying on the pallet without high precision, and are then sliced one by one in a special part holder system on a turning table. The holder system allows the sides and bottom to be placed correctly before being stapled. The box is moved on the turning table to the second robot which then staples the sides and the bottom, and then puts it on a pallet. This solution runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week without special supervision or maintenance.