What if increasing perception could decrease the total cost of ownership for mobile robots? By using that increased perception to improve the customer's ROI, it can make mobile robotics cost-effective and accessible enough that it increases the potential customer base.

Since 2012, there has been a tremendous increase in the adoption of mobile robots in manufacturing and logistics. The mobile robotics industry is poised to grow even more in 2025. But while Fortune 100 and maybe Fortune 500 companies utilize them, there has not been mass adoption at smaller companies yet. What is stopping this growth, and how can every vendor in the industry help to change this? All it takes is 60 seconds.

Consider a new approach to this problem by focusing on a different part of the equation.

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Rethinking cost reduction in mobile robotics

Discussions about the mobile robotics perception stack often center around lowering the BOM cost of the hardware. While this can decrease the overall cost of the robot, it's important to look closer at the math. 

As an example, a customer needs to move 10,000 pallets per day. Each automated forklift runs five 12-minute missions per hour, equating to 120 missions per day. Divide the daily pallet amount by the vehicle mission rate, and this will require 83 automated vehicles.  

If the average cost per automated forklift is $150,000, then the customer requires a total CapEx spend of roughly $12,450,000. This is a substantial initial investment.

If it's possible to reduce BOM costs, it does reduce the total cost of ownership. Holding all throughput metrics constant, dropping the cost of each robot by $4,000 to $146,000,000 reduces the CapEx from $12,450,000 to $12,000,118. The savings are roughly $300,000 for the customer. This feels like a significant advantage, and it can potentially help the customer justify the cost.

But is there a better way? 

Lowering ownership costs by enhancing efficiency

Consider the traditional metric of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) that is commonly used in manufacturing. This metric has three components: Availability, Performance, and Quality. Improving availability and performance should make the machine more efficient. The same is true for mobile robotics. 

Using the previous example, the customer needs to move 10,000 pallets a day. But instead of 12-minute missions, 11-minute missions save 60 seconds per mission. Now, each vehicle completes 5.45 missions per hour and 131 missions per day. Instead of requiring 83 vehicles, the customer only needs 76 vehicles in their fleet. 

The total cost drops to $11,552,000. When compared to the original cost of $12,450,000, the CapEx cost is reduced by almost $900,000. That averages three times the savings of reducing BOM cost. 

How to increase completed missions and reduce total cost of ownership

How do you save 60 seconds on each mission? With a multi-modal approach to perception, your robot can truly understand its environment in 360 degrees. The robot makes better decisions and fewer unplanned stops. This improves OEE metrics and decreases the total cost of ownership.

Now consider that example again where the savings were roughly $900,000 for the customer. Did you notice that the price of each robot increased by $2,000?

When adding more cameras to increase perception, it also increases the cost of each mobile robot. However, the efficiency gains dramatically decrease the total cost of ownership.

ifm aims to build solutions that drive larger efficiency gains for mobile robots with increased perception. Helping to reduce the overall cost of ownership of robot fleets starts with solutions, algorithms, and hardware designed to solve challenges that impact the overall efficiency of these robots. 

That’s the power of 60 seconds when it comes to ROI for mobile robotics. This level of cost savings will help the mobile robotics industry cross the chasm from a small group of large customers to a broader audience, growing the entire industry. 

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