Buying a robot and having a working cell are different purchases. The arm is a catalogue item with a price anyone can look up. The cell around it is engineering: tooling, guarding, controls, the interface to the machine it serves, the safety assessment, the programme and the proving. Integration is that work, and on most projects it is the larger half of the number.
What an integrator is responsible for
A competent integrator takes the application from a description of the job to a cell that makes good parts at an agreed rate. That covers concept and layout, choosing the robot and the tooling, designing and building fixtures, wiring the controls, the risk assessment and the guarding that follows from it, writing and proving the programme, installing on site, training the people who will run it, and handing over documentation. The arm is one purchase order inside all of that.
How a project is normally staged
Most integrators work in stages: a study that establishes feasibility and a budget, a design phase that fixes the layout and the tooling, build and assembly at their site, a factory acceptance test where the cell is proved on real parts before it ships, installation, then a site acceptance test against the agreed rate and quality. Knowing where the payment points sit, and what evidence releases each one, is worth as much as the price.
Why cobot integration is different but not free
A collaborative arm can remove the fence, which removes floor space, guarding and often some of the interlocking. It does not remove the assessment, because what is assessed is the application: the gripper, the part, the speed, the forces and what surrounds the cell. Cobot integration is usually a smaller project than a conventional one for the same task, and it is a project. A shop that buys the arm alone and expects to deploy it over a weekend is buying the easy tenth of the job.
What to have ready before the first conversation
Bring the part or an accurate model, the annual quantity and the mix, the cycle time you need, the machine the cell will serve with its make and model, a photograph or drawing of the space, and an honest description of the worst case rather than the typical one. Integrators quote what they are told; the variation and the exceptions are what make quotes differ and what makes cells fail after handover.
What to ask about after handover
A cell has a life beyond sign off. Ask who reprograms it for a new part and what that costs, what spares are held and where, what response time is offered when it stops, whether your own people can be trained to make changes, and what happens when the robot's controller generation is superseded. The answers separate a supplier from a vendor.
Questions people ask about robotics integration
What does robotics integration actually mean?
It is the engineering that turns a robot into a working cell: tooling, fixtures, guarding, controls, the interface to the machine, the safety assessment, programming, installation and proving.
Is integration more expensive than the robot?
On most projects yes. The arm is a catalogue item while the tooling, controls and proving are bespoke engineering, so a quote where the robot dominates the total is worth questioning.
Can I integrate a cobot myself?
Simple applications are within reach of a capable maintenance team, and many are deployed that way. The assessment of the application still has to be done properly, and complex tooling or a machine interface usually justifies help.
How long does a cell take?
It varies with the tooling more than the robot. The stages are consistent even when the durations are not: study, design, build, factory acceptance, install, site acceptance, and each has evidence attached to it.
What is a factory acceptance test?
It is proving the cell on your real parts at the integrator's site before it ships, so that problems are found where the people who built it are standing rather than on your floor.