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Robotization is one of the main vectors in Repsol’s digital transformation strategy to improve safety and efficiency in all its processes. In 2020, the energy company will carry out its first pilot test using a logistics robot to transport materials in an industrial complex. But that’s not all: it has already automated over 100 processes thanks to RPA technology and is incorporating components in robots already in use to make them more intelligent. Training is essential so that people have the necessary tools to respond to the challenges that robotization presents. With adequate training, more professional opportunities will emerge, an essential aspect to overcoming the crisis caused by COVID-19. In order to reverse the current situation, increased investment in research is a fundamental component, whose greatest supporter in Spain is industry, where 80% of private R&D&I is born. Repsol has been clearly commitment in this regard for a long time. In the case of robotization, the Company is training its employees to lead this process, seeking to increase the synergies of human-machine interaction, so that people can focus on tasks with higher added value, such as decision-making. |
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Repsol has two robotics hubs — one for software and the other for hardware — aimed at developing and implementing physical and software robots to complete routine tasks and free up employees or carry out potentially dangerous work in industrial facilities. The Repsol Technology Lab in Móstoles (Madrid, Spain) develops disruptive technologies that are later implemented in the Company. At this center, which is home to the robotics hardware hub, four lines of robots are being developed: logistics robots, warehouse automation systems, collaborative robotic arms, and robotic arms to open and close industrial equipment. The financial impact of introducing robots is estimated at over 3 million euros in 2021 just at the Tech Lab, and this figure will significantly increase when robotization spreads to all of the firm's areas. Robotizing transport and warehouses
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Also in the pipeline was the installation of a robotic arm with five axes and the ability to lift up to 30 kilos, which open and close the reactors in the refining pilot plant. With the arm, “we aim to improve safety and try out this technology to see how else we could use it in our operations on an industrial scale,” continues Alfonso García. At this same plant, a system made up of two robotic arms will be operating next July, which will prepare the plant's daily samples and be in charge of carrying out chemical analysis, thereby reinforcing the safety of the technicians and reducing the costs associated with these routine operations. Of all the robotic platforms being tested, the most mature ones that are ready to be used on an industrial scale are logistical and warehouse automation robots. In 2020, the first pilot test using a robot in a refinery will be carried out. In this location, “any form of transport could be robotized so that people can spend their time adding value in more important areas,” explains Adolfo Andrés, Manager of the Robotics Hardware Hub. “The large-scale use of robotic arms that act directly in our processes requires more secure and complex hardware systems than in other industries, but eventually we will see them, too.” Automation of recurrent tasks
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At the Repsol Technology Lab, six processes have already been robotized. One of these is the daily report to monitor the pilot plants, which operate 24 hours per day, and this task is now carried out by a software robot overnight. “Apart from being efficient, the use of the robot prevents errors in a task that involves handling a large amount of information and, above all, takes a monotonous task, such as checking data, off our technicians’ hands,” explains Alfonso García. Processes that have been automated with RPA must fulfill certain conditions: they must be repetitive and based on rules, have structured data, and require a large amount of time and resources. Repsol is getting its employees involved in this implementation through workshops that use collaborative methodologies such as design thinking, so that they can identify which processes should be automated. |
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Robots as a complement
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