New Generation of Cobots Revolutionizes Plastics Molding – Insights from EVCO Plastics

EVCO Plastics – a global custom injection molding leader with nine plants in three countries – is at the forefront of integrating collaborative robots (cobots) into its manufacturing processes. Over the past year, the company has deployed six articulated‑arm cobots from Universal Robots across three locations, including two sites in DeForest, Wisconsin and one in Georgia.

The primary advantage of cobots, according to Jason Glanzer, automation engineer at EVCO, is their ability to perform repetitive pick‑and‑place tasks while working safely alongside human operators, eliminating the need for costly hard guarding enclosures.

In a typical plumbing‑fixture cell, a cobot picks an insert and places it on a fixture located within a 5‑ft‑tall guard around a six‑axis robot. The six‑axis robot then feeds the insert into the mold. Previously, a worker would manually place the insert and activate the robot. Now the cobot streamlines the entire sequence.

Other applications include Cartesian robots that demold parts and feed them to a guarded conveyor. A cobot then assembles the parts into a boxed product using a programmed placement pattern, inserting cardboard sheets between layers for protection.

Assembly tasks also benefit from cobots equipped with the latest force/torque sensors and machine‑vision guidance. In a gearbox‑assembly cell for lawn and garden equipment, a standard robot assembles the gearbox and hands it to a cobot, which applies grease, weighs the assembly, and seals the grease port. The cobot pulls caps from a vibratory feeder, ensuring no step is skipped – a common human error in traditional workflows.

EVCO’s “printer farm” of 3D printers is another success story. Cobots mounted on casters travel between presses, executing pre‑programmed routines stored in the controller’s memory. The lead‑through teach programming requires as few as four anchor points, a significant reduction over conventional robots that demand extensive point lists. This agility is essential for short runs of 24–40 hours and frequent changeovers.

Cost savings also come from the cobots’ ability to operate without hard guarding. While standard robots require expensive safety relays, light curtains, and enclosures, cobots can work safely in close proximity to humans. In some configurations, a laser scanner detects a person’s presence and automatically slows or pauses the robot, resuming operation once the area is clear. This “soft” opto‑electronic guarding adds collaborative capability to conventional robots without the high upfront expense.

“The flexibility, ease of programming, and safety benefits of cobots have transformed our production lines,” says Glanzer. “As the technology continues to evolve, we anticipate further expansion of our cobot fleet.”