Balloon business B-Loony – which supplies global brands including McDonalds and Costa Coffee – has been able to continue fulfilling orders with minimal disruption during the lockdown thanks to its innovative use of robots.
In order to keep its factory open and fulfil orders, B-Loony has been using collaborative robots – or ‘co-bots’ to work alongside social distancing staff in order to keep the production line moving and safe.
Established 40 years ago, B-Loony is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of printed balloons and suppliers of promotional products, including paper flags, bunting and banners.
“Four years ago, we took the decision to invest in our first collaborative robot to work alongside members of our existing team in order to increase productivity as the business expanded,” explained Andy MacInnes, commercial director.
“It was important for us that we kept the staff engaged in the process and took them with us as we used technology to carry out some of the more repetitive, time-consuming tasks… Over that time, the robots have enabled us to significantly increase our capacity and efficiency and have been a vital investment for the business.”
He continued: “We now have eight robots working alongside a skeleton staff. Thy have really come into their own and are one of the key reasons that we have been able to keep production lines going. The co-bots are allowing us to fulfil contracted orders from larger clients so that the business can continue to operate until we can start full production again when restrictions ease.”
