Standardization is a key concept behind lean manufacturing. It allows assemblers to reduce variation, increase consistency, cut costs and improve productivity by following a prescribed set of work instructions.
The robotics industry has latched onto that basic idea by marketing preconfigured and pre-engineered workcells for welding, dispensing, machine tending and other applications. The cells promise assemblers dramatic savings in cost and deployment time. As a result, the ready-to-go systems are popular with both small job shops and Tier 1 automotive suppliers.