Case Study: ProCobots achieves streamlined, cost-effective robotic machine tending with Markforged 3D-printed end effectors

ProCobots - Customer Case Study

ProCobots provides turnkey CNC machine-tending systems and faced the common lean-manufacturing challenge that traditional robotic cells are monolithic and single-purpose, forcing shops to buy and integrate multiple expensive cells. To add flexibility to its standardized EasyRobotics Pro Feeder + Universal-Robots UR10 cell, ProCobots turned to Markforged 3D printers and the Onyx composite material to produce custom, lightweight end effectors that can be swapped and reprogrammed in minutes.

Using Markforged printers with continuous fiber reinforcement, ProCobots prints strong, accurate end effectors overnight, eliminating outsourcing and machinist time. The Markforged solution enabled faster deployments and lean customization while improving pick-and-place stiffness; compared with traditional parts (7 days, $500), Markforged parts take 21 hours and $17 — an 88% time savings and 97% cost savings — helping ProCobots streamline customers’ workflows and reduce overhead.

ProCobots

Brian Knopp

Chief Executive Officer