In the production of copper cathode in the metallurgical industry, the efficiency and safety of
the flaking process has a direct impact on the profitability and sustainable development of
enterprises. With the maturity of robot technology, more and more enterprises are facing
the choice: continue to rely on traditional manual operation, or shift to automation upgrade?
In this paper, from the efficiency, cost and safety of the three dimensions, an objective
comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two modes, to provide reference
for industry decision-making.
Comparison of efficiency: from “human tactics” to
accurate second operations
The efficiency bottleneck of manual operation
Speed limitation: manual stripping relies on the operator's physical strength and experience, a single
piece of copper cathode stripping takes about 3-5 minutes, and frequent shifts are required to
ensure the continuity of the production line;
Fatigue attenuation: under the environment of high temperature and high humidity electrolysis
workshop, workers are prone to fluctuation of efficiency due to physical strength decline, and the
efficiency of night shift is usually reduced by more than 30%;
Collaboration loss: when multiple people work together, it is easy to cause production line stagnation
due to cooperation errors, for example, the copper plate positioning deviation needs to be adjusted twice.
The efficiency advantage of robot stripping
Millisecond response: based on machine vision and servo drive technology, the robot's single peeling time
is compressed to less than 1 minute, with 24-hour continuous operation without degradation;
Standardized output: the whole process is programmed and controlled, and the error of peeling strength
and angle is less than 0.5%, avoiding the deformation or residual of copper plate caused by human operation;
Seamless docking with production line: real-time data interaction with electrolysis tanks and conveyor
belts, realizing “zero-waiting” continuous production and improving overall efficiency by 2-3 times.
Data support: after the transformation of a copper smelting enterprise, the daily stripping capacity of a
single production line has increased from 800 pieces to 2400 pieces, and there is no need to increase
manpower.
Cost Comparison: Short-term Investment vs.
The real cost of manual operation
Under the traditional model, costs are often underestimated:
Explicit expenditure: a single production line needs to be equipped with 6-8 workers (three shifts),
the annual labor cost of more than 800,000 yuan (including social security, allowances);
Hidden losses: wasted capacity due to efficiency fluctuations, copper scrap rate (about 3%-5%),
and workers' compensation risk.
Cost Structure of Robotic Stripping
Initial investment: the price of a single robot system (including vision module, robotic arm, control
terminal) is about 1-1.5 million RMB;
Operation and maintenance costs: annual average electricity consumption, parts replacement costs
of about 50,000-80,000 yuan;
Long-term benefits:
Labor cost savings: equipment investment can be covered within 3 years;
Quality improvement: copper plate scrap rate reduced to below 0.5%, reducing losses by over 200,000 RMB per year;
Value-added production capacity: 30% more copper cathode can be processed in the same cycle,
which directly translates into revenue growth.
Key conclusion: the return on investment cycle of the robot program is about 2-3 years, and the
long-term return is significantly higher than the manual mode.
Safety comparison: from “risk management” to “intrinsic safety”.
Safety hazards of manual operation
Health threat: acid mist and high temperature in the electrolysis workshop can easily cause respiratory diseases and heat stroke;
Operational risk: sharp edges of copper plates and splashing debris during stripping may cause cuts;
Management difficulty: rely on personnel training and institutional constraints, but fatigue, distraction and
other human factors are difficult to completely circumvent.
Safety design of robotic stripping
Physical isolation: Robot operation area is equipped with closed protective cover to isolate personnel from
contacting the source of danger;
Intelligent monitoring: real-time warning of acid mist concentration exceeding the standard or equipment overheating
through gas sensors and infrared thermal imaging;
Intrinsic safety:
Flexible gripper jaws avoid rigid collision;
Force control system automatically stops when abnormal resistance is detected;
Emergency power-off response time is less than 0.1 seconds.
Industry case: after the introduction of robots in a factory, the rate of workplace accidents in the stripping process
has dropped from an annual average of 2 to 0, and the staff positions have been adjusted to the better environment
of quality control and operation and maintenance positions.
Controversy and challenges: robots are not a “panacea”.
Despite the obvious advantages, the promotion of robot stripping is still facing practical obstacles:
Insufficient flexibility: the adaptability of non-standard cathode plates (such as severe bending, uneven thickness)
still needs to be optimized;
Technical threshold: small and medium-sized enterprises lack automated operation and maintenance teams, relying
on external service providers may increase hidden costs;
Employment impact: the short-term may trigger worker transfer or layoff controversy, need to support vocational
training and social responsibility programs.
Future Outlook: The Balance Point of Human-Machine Collaboration
The ideal solution is not to replace labor across the board, but to build a hierarchical collaboration system:
High-intensity links: robots undertake repetitive, high-risk flaking operations;
Decision-making and maintenance: manual labor focuses on process optimization, equipment monitoring
and abnormality handling;
Dynamic upgrading: through 5G+digital twin technology, remote diagnosis and algorithm iteration are realized
to continuously improve system reliability.
Conclusion
The three-dimensional comparison of efficiency, cost and safety shows that copper cathode stripping robot is
gradually becoming the mainstream choice in the industry. Although the initial investment is high, the long-term
benefits, quality improvement and risk avoidance ability brought by it have far exceeded the traditional manual
mode. For enterprises, the key is to rationally assess their own production capacity and technology base, to
develop a phased automation upgrade path - in the “machine for man” wave, seize the first opportunity
to win the initiative to compete in the future.