Posted to News on 9th Jul 2020, 09:30
ABB recycling and remanufacturing thousands of old robots
ABB continues to remanufacture robots, controllers and manipulators, refurbishing them to give them a second life. The company says that remanufactured robots help customers unlock new functionalities and advanced services whilst reducing maintenance costs and maximising return on investment. It also means extended lifetimes for robots that may otherwise be scrapped.
As sustainability continues to grow in importance globally, ABB states that remanufacturing enables existing robot users to sell inactive or legacy robots to them with an attractive buy back service, rather than scrapping or leaving them unused in a corner of the factory. Over the last 25 years, thousands of robots have been refurbished and upgraded by ABB's Global Remanufacture & Workshop Repair Centres.
Before being labelled as an ABB-certified remanufactured robot, every second-hand unit undergoes rigorous checks, including a detailed inspection and a minimum 16-hour functioning test. Each remanufactured robot comes with a two-year warranty and buyers of refurbished equipment enjoy the same level of support from local service teams, including installation and training, as they would with the purchase of a new ABB robot.
Jan Borsky, of ABB's Global Remanufacture & Workshop Repair Centres says: "Unlike third-party refurbishers who only fix faulty parts, we completely remanufacture our robots using original ABB design plans, specifications and dimensional data. This guarantees that the robots offer the same levels of quality, performance, durability and safety as a new ABB robot. We have one of the largest inventories of pre-owned and reconditioned robots across the world, with 400 robots of various types in stock for sale, and currently the demand for second life robots is so high that we have more than one robot leaving our Ostrava facility every working day".
Each remanufactured robot can also be upgraded to the latest controller, which unlocks new functionalities such as ABB Ability Connected services or the latest version of RobotStudio, ABB's simulation and offline programming software. Upgrades can also unlock the potential of collaborative robotics, with ABB's SafeMove software providing businesses with the opportunity to enable robots to work alongside operators without the need for extensive guarding, which helps to cut both the cost of an installation and the overall footprint, suitable for locations where space is at a premium.
ABB's network of global remanufacturing facilities includes centres in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, Auburn Hills in Michigan and Shanghai in China, as well as local remanufacturing service centres in Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Vietnam. Follow the link for more details on ABB's remanufacturing services.
