中文Robotics in the sign and display industry is evolving from a curiosity into a strategic efficiency tool. A detailed analysis by Sonja Angerer shows how digital print shops are using automated material feeding, collaborative robots (cobots) and lights-out production to lower rising labour costs, cut material waste and optimise processes for the future.
Most people associate industrial robots with automotive or electronics manufacturing, yet largely unnoticed they have long since entered printing and advertising. They are increasingly used to produce signs, displays, point-of-sale materials, packaging prototypes and large-format graphics. The drivers are obvious: combining automated workflows with robots promises higher productivity and consistent quality, while a shortage of skilled workers plus rising wages has sharply increased personnel costs in Germany and Central Europe.
At the same time, consumable prices for film, paper and ink keep climbing, alongside unpredictable energy and fuel costs. With weaker demand and overcapacity in some sectors, passing those costs to print buyers is difficult. Providers must control costs carefully, and small, relatively simple robots can help – especially for companies that have already modernised post-press with digital cutting systems and run largely automated, continuously monitored lines.
In print shops and post-press, robots handle repetitive, physically demanding and time-consuming tasks in the warehouse, print room and finishing: loading and unloading printing and cutting systems, transporting sheet materials, sorting cut parts and stacking finished products. Automation is most advanced in digital cutting, where robots pick sheet material from pallets, position it on the cutting table and, after cutting, separate finished parts from scrap.
Zund offers solutions with automation specialist Robotfactory; its PortaTable 130 handles removal, sorting and stacking of cut parts directly at the cutting system, while board-handling systems for the Q-Line manage pallet logistics and sorting via the Zund Cut Center interface. Epson provides robots, feeding systems and control systems configurable for tasks such as feeding objects for direct printing or quality control, and even complex assembly – positioning parts, applying adhesive or sealant, joining components – enabling simpler displays like light boxes with almost no manual intervention and a real alternative to costly Far East imports.
Which systems suit digital print shops? A SCARA robot (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) typically has four axes and excels at fast, precise handling. Six-axis industrial robots offer far greater flexibility for loading and unloading flatbed printers, transporting large-format sheets, feeding cutters and sorting after post-processing, linking multiple production steps. Collaborative robots, or cobots, such as the PortaTable 130, are already common because they integrate without clearance zones or special safety devices and can be taught by demonstrating the movement. They move more slowly and have lower payloads, making them ideal for small and medium runs.
Robotics also supports sustainability through the “dark factory” or lights-out production: environments that run extended periods without constant staff presence. Robots need less lighting or air conditioning, reducing energy use, and fewer commuting employees lowers environmental impact. Machines keep producing at night or weekends, raising plant utilisation without new buildings, while greater process accuracy reduces miscuts and rework.
Robotics is not a panacea, though. For very small runs and complex projects, automation remains limited until robots capable of broad autonomous tasks reach the market. Until then, companies should carefully assess which processes would benefit. Used alongside workflow automation and digital cutting, however, robotics creates end-to-end production chains that relieve skilled workers of routine tasks, improve quality and material usage, and make the work environment more attractive.
Article based on reporting from FESPA.
For shops considering robotics, the sensible path is incremental. Start with the most repetitive, physically demanding task – typically loading and unloading a cutting table or flatbed – where a cobot delivers immediate, measurable relief. Those early wins build internal confidence and free skilled staff for higher-value, complex work. Only after the workflow is stable should shops extend automation to transport, sorting and stacking.
Return on investment is rarely purely financial in the short term; it is also about resilience. With skilled labour scarce and costly, robots stabilise production against staffing volatility and let a shop accept work it might otherwise decline. The dark-factory model – running lights-out overnight or at weekends – lifts asset utilisation without new floor space, a compelling argument when expansion land is expensive or unavailable.
The caution is real but manageable. Very small runs and bespoke projects remain poor candidates for automation until robots gain broader autonomy. Printers should therefore map their order book, identify high-volume, repeatable processes, and pilot robotics there. Done that way, robotics becomes not a futuristic gamble but a pragmatic response to today’s cost and labour realities.
None of this requires a wholesale rethink of the business. The most successful adoptions start small, prove value on one task, and expand as confidence grows. A cobot at a cutting table is a low-risk first step that pays back in reclaimed labour hours and steadier output. From there, shops can layer transport, sorting and eventually lights-out shifts. The providers who treat robotics as a graduated strategy – not an all-or-nothing leap – will capture the efficiency gains while keeping their highest-value people focused on the complex, creative work that machines cannot yet do.
