Emergency Vehicle Maker Tackles Labor Shortage and Enhances Efficiency through Automation and AI
Life Line cut finishing time 30–40% by automating ambulance sanding with a FANUC robot, improving ergonomics and redeploying skilled workers.
Challenges
- Physically demanding work that exhausted and strained employees
- Difficulty finding and retaining labor in a low-unemployment environment
- Labor-intensive work processes with unnecessarily long production times
Results
Ability to relocate employees to higher-satisfaction roles
Gains of 30-40% in production times
Created additional manufacturing labor flexibility to address time-sensitive tasks
Story
As a manufacturer of highly customized ambulances, Life Line Emergency Vehicles places extreme focus on the quality, safety and durability of their products, recognizing the critical role that they play in saving lives daily. While the end-user EMT and patient are at the heart of their company’s mission, Life Line has long been driven by a desire to do right by its employee-owners as well. Recently, that meant addressing one of the most physically challenging aspects in their manufacturing process—the sanding and finishing of ambulance truck bodies.
A tedious task, the finishing process traditionally involved an employee-owner climbing up and down ladders, dragging hoses and other equipment around the vehicle, and putting stress on their knees and legs as they had to navigate crawling over metal truck roofs. Not only was this process deemed a least favorite by employees, it was a difficult task to recruit and retain labor for.
With that in mind, Life Line began the search for a robot that could perform the same quality of sanding and finishing currently done by employees. They were looking for a true partner integrator, someone who would not just sell them a robot, but an entire system designed to their unique needs, with ongoing support to sustain and optimize the automation process.
GrayMatter Robotics, a FANUC Authorized System Integrator, uses proprietary AI designed into smart robotic cells to assist with exactly the kind of tedious and ergonomically challenging tasks faced by Life Line. Their solutions are tuned for the variations and variabilities in specialty vehicle manufacturing, enabling them to work on nearly any part within minutes while delivering faster and more consistent results.
In this case, GrayMatter Robotics provided a single FANUC M-710 series robotic arm and rail configured system, which is ideal for sanding and particularly efficient. Using this standardized solution, set up and operation was facilitated quickly, with the GrayMatter Robotics team troubleshooting as needed to increase efficiency even further through incremental improvements.
Since then, Life Line has realized a 30-40 percent reduction in process time for the finishing of each specialty vehicle, while being able to reassign employee-owners to other priority roles on the manufacturing floor.
The future to me is to continue the automation roadmap of how do we make things—the tedious jobs—more efficient? I think automation plays a big (role) in that.
Jamie Breitbach Manufacturing Coordinator – Life LineFANUC Products Used
M-710iD/70
The FANUC M‑710iD/70 robot is a versatile and robust solution designed for a variety of industrial applications from material handling to spot welding.
- Max Payload:
- 70 kg
- Reach:
- 2104 mm
Meet GrayMatter Robotics, FANUC Authorized System Integrator
At GrayMatter Robotics, we’re not just changing the game in manufacturing; we’re improving the quality of lives. Our mission is to empower manufacturers with smart robotic cells that boost production capacity and alleviate the physical strain of repetitive and ergonomically challenging tasks. In an industry where many workers endure the daily grind of manual labor, we provide a solution that not only lifts the burden off their shoulders but also opens up new avenues for career advancement. By transitioning from demanding roles to becoming skilled robot operators, employees can upskill, gain advanced competencies, or even step into management positions. This transformation allows them to thrive in their careers and enjoy a better quality of life.
About Life Line Emergency Vehicles
Life Line is an ambulance manufacturer that puts quality, safety, and durability first to provide long-lasting value for our customers. Life Line is relentlessly focused on producing ambulances and providing service that exceeds customer expectations, empowering each Life Line partner to work with pride and professionalism.
