Automation
Industrial Welding Arm
When volume is high and your parts repeat, the industrial arm runs at 4–5× manual welding speed, 20 hours a day, with zero fatigue and consistent weld quality across every single part.
4–5×
Speed vs. manual
20 kg
Payload capacity
±0.05 mm
Repeatability
Built for Production
High-volume welding without the staffing constraint
The industrial arm is engineered for one thing: running your highest-volume repeat welds faster, more consistently, and with lower labor cost per part than any other method. It doesn't call in sick. It doesn't have a bad week. Every part it welds looks like the first.
Unlike collaborative robots, the industrial arm is optimized for speed over flexibility. It operates inside a safety-guarded cell, running at full speed without human traffic interruptions — typically 4–5× the output of a skilled manual welder on the same fixture.
The throughput multiplier vs. manual welding on repeat production welds
Typical running time — two shifts with minimal changeover time
Weld path repeatability — identical torch angle and travel speed on every part
Consistent quality on part #1 and part #10,000 — weld quality never degrades
Technical Specifications
By the Numbers
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Payload | 20 kg |
| Reach | 1,700 mm |
| Repeatability | ±0.05 mm |
| Axes | 6 |
| Max welding current | 500 A |
| Welding processes | MIG / MAG / TIG / Plasma |
| Programming | Offline (RoboDK, OLP) |
| Motion speed | Up to 6,000 mm/min |
| Cycle time advantage | 4–5× manual welding |
| Safety standard | ISO 10218-1/-2 |
| Mounting | Floor, ceiling, wall |
| IP rating | IP65 |
See It Work
In Action
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Which Robot Is Right?
Industrial vs. Collaborative Arm
| Feature | Collaborative Arm | Industrial Arm |
|---|---|---|
| Safety cage required | No — ISO/TS 15066 compliant | Yes — hard guarding mandatory |
| Setup time for new part | 20–60 min (lead-through) | Offline OLP, no production tie-up |
| Payload | 15 kg (33 lbs) | 20 kg (44 lbs) |
| Ideal batch size | Low–medium volume, mixed parts | High volume, dedicated parts |
| Speed advantage | 2.5× manual welding | 4–5× manual welding |
| Floor footprint | Minimal | Dedicated cell required |
| Investment | Lower — no cell buildout | Higher — full integration project |
| Best fit | Shops with mixed products, limited space | High-volume production with repeat parts |
Make the Business Case
Calculate Your ROI
For high-volume production shops, the industrial arm typically pays back in 12–24 months. Adjust the inputs to your production reality.
ROI Calculator
100
3
30
Est. Annual Savings
$22,500
Payback Period
45 mo
5-Year ROI
32%
*Estimates based on 2.5× productivity increase vs manual welding, 250 working days/year, $85,000 base cobot system price. Actual results vary.
Questions
Frequently Asked
The industrial arm is built for speed and throughput in a dedicated, guarded cell. It moves faster, handles heavier loads, and is optimized for high-volume, repeat-production welding. The collaborative arm is slower but can work alongside humans without a cage, making it ideal for smaller shops or mixed-product environments. Both deliver consistent, high-quality welds — the right choice depends on your volume, part mix, and available floor space.
A typical project from signed order to production-ready is 12–20 weeks. This includes cell design, robot and fixture fabrication, offline programming, factory acceptance testing, and on-site installation and commissioning. For high-volume orders with dedicated parts, offline programming begins during robot build, compressing the timeline.
We use offline programming (OLP) software — primarily RoboDK — to generate weld paths from your CAD files before the robot arrives. This eliminates tie-up of the production robot during programming and allows thorough path verification in simulation. On-site commissioning fine-tunes weld parameters with real material. Changes to part programs are made offline and uploaded to the controller.
Yes. With a 1,700mm reach and ceiling/wall mounting options, the industrial arm can access large weldments. For very large structures, we design track-mounted (7th axis) configurations that allow the robot to traverse the length of the part. Contact us with your part envelope and we'll design the appropriate cell layout.
Scheduled maintenance is approximately 500-hour intervals — primarily TCP calibration, drive lubrication, and consumable checks on the welding torch package. Our cloud monitoring system flags anomalies before they become failures. VTM offers annual preventive maintenance contracts that cover inspections, calibration, and consumable replacement at a fixed cost.
Yes. Our industrial robot controllers support standard industry protocols including OPC-UA, Modbus TCP, EtherNet/IP, and PROFINET. Integration with production monitoring systems, barcode scanners, and quality inspection cameras is standard in our integration projects. We work with your IT and engineering teams to define the data handshakes during the design phase.
Get Started
Ready to Automate Your High-Volume Welds?
Share your part drawings and production volume with us. We'll come back with a cell concept, estimated cycle time, and a preliminary ROI model — before you commit to anything.
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