OnRobot launches D:PLOY in Australia

OnRobot has launched what it says is the industry’s first automated platform for deployment of collaborative applications in Australia.

The company said D:PLOY will revolutionise and simplify automation for manufacturers in almost every industry. It claims savings of up to 90% on deployment and redeployment time, and will work with any leading collaborative or light industrial robot.

The launch is timely as demand for robotic adoption soars in Australia. This is particularly so as manufacturers turn to automation to cope with rising inflation, labour shortages and supply chain delays. In Australia, industrial robotics is expected to reach US$34.41 million by 2027, increasing at an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.05% from 2022 to 2027¹.

“The launch of D:PLOY marks a huge milestone for OnRobot and offers a foundational market shift that will alter the way automation is deployed across industries,” said Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. “D:PLOY is set to benefit manufacturers, system integrators, distributors and robot manufacturers. As deployment and redeployment becomes drastically faster, easier and less complex, manufacturers of all sizes can increase productivity and solve their labour shortage challenges. System integrators can complete more projects in less time for greater returns while distributors can tap into new customers segments. Robot manufacturers can expect higher sales from greater automation adoption. D:PLOY is an automation and market enabler for the entire industry.”

“D:PLOY offers tremendous potential in Australia and supports the Australian Government’s goal of helping manufacturers embrace advanced technologies, in line with the AU$1 billion advanced manufacturing fund commitment,” said James Taylor, General Manager, APAC, OnRobot. “While robot deployments have become easier over the past few years, quite a bit of set-up and programming is still required to get them up and running. This is where Australian manufacturers, particularly SMEs, require support for complexities that could incur additional costs, delaying the ROI for their automation. D:PLOY will make those complexities a thing of the past, enabling common robotic applications to be deployed significantly faster and easier.”

The D:PLOY platform allows users to deploy applications directly on the manufacturing floor in a few simple steps. D:PLOY automatically discovers installed hardware while automatically generating a collision-free path of the robot based on defined obstacles. All of the program logic, signals exchange, events handling and path planning for the entire application are generated automatically based on a few user inputs, with zero programming needed.

D:PLOY is expected to be available in December 2022. The first release will target key applications such as palletising, CNC machine tending, packaging and material handling that are typically used in industries such as automotive, electronics, metal and machinery, food and beverage, and life sciences. Future releases will address additional machine tending and material handling applications as well as process and assembly applications.

^{1. Statista.com 2022, Industrial Robotics - Australia, <<https://www.statista.com/outlook/tmo/robotics/industrial-robotics/australia>>}