From Collaborative Robots to Collaborative Solutions
Audit your process. Develop your solution.
Five steps, each one builds on the last. By the end you will approach your automation supplier or integrator with new knowledge and confidence that will expedite your solution development by days or weeks.
P
Process
Stabilize it before you automate it.
A
Anatomy
Map the full stack, not the robot.
T
Touchpoints
Find where humans meet the cell.
H
Hazards
Protect every interaction.
S
Scale
Build it so it repeats.
Pick a task on the floor and don't worry if it's not a good fit — at the end we can run this again!
Your name (optional)
Facility / company (optional)
P
Step 1 of 5
Process
A process you can't run consistently by hand can't be automated consistently. Stabilize first.
1 How much are you running today?
Times per shift
/ shift
Minutes each
min
Don't know these? Reach out to our team for help or check out our cycle time finder.
2 Who runs it — how many people, across how many shifts?
3 Walk through the production steps as you are watching them, not how it SHOULD work.
The ⚠ varies signal is for marking what steps see variation now based on people, time of day, etc.
No steps yet — add the first one below.
4 Why does each step vary?
This is where you put more info on why these steps may vary.
Flag a step above as "varies" and it'll appear here for diagnosis.
5 Where are failures found today? Do you know how much it is costing you?
How consistent is this project as of right now?
It varies by who's running it
Documented, but it still drifts
Consistent every shift
A
Step 2 of 5
Anatomy
The robot isn't the only thing in a cell. Understanding your task will help you realize all the other components that make up the cell and your solutions.
1 What do you need to have included in this cell for your current task?
Check what the task needs. For each, you'll say whether you have it or still need it. You can also leave it blank if it's not needed.
2 Which component above are you most concerned about? Whether that is pricing, reliability, etc.
How well do you understand the full stack?
Honestly, we're mostly thinking about the robot
We've listed the cell, but there are gaps
Full stack mapped — the robot is one line item
T
Step 3 of 5
Touchpoints
Every point a human loads, unloads, inspects, intervenes, clears a jam, or cleans. Each one is a safety and a cycle-time decision.
1 List every point where a human touches this cell.
For each, set how often it happens, and whether it happens while the cell is running or only when stopped.
No touchpoints yet — add the first one below.
2 How many of these happen while the cell is running?
Those are your live-interaction risks — they carry into Hazards next.
Your move
Classify the whole cell in one word. This decides your entire safety strategy.
People work AROUND it
People work WITH it
People work INSIDE it
How well have you mapped human interaction?
Haven't really mapped it
Mapped, but unsure on some
Every touchpoint mapped and classified
H
Step 4 of 5
Hazards
For every interaction: the realistic worst case, and what protects the human against it.
1 For each touchpoint, name the worst case and what protects against it.
These are the touchpoints you listed in T. Flag any where the only "protection" is the robot's label, or nothing yet.
Add touchpoints in step T and they'll appear here to protect.
2 Who is signing off on these touchpoint hazard match-ups?
Name who on the team owns the safety evaluation for each touchpoint on the cell.
Add touchpoints in step T and they'll appear here to assign an owner.
What's protecting your people right now?
Mostly the robot's "collaborative" rating
Some engineered protection — gaps remain
Every touchpoint has verified protection
S
Step 5 of 5 · the one that decides it
Scale
A solution can be replicated; a project is built once for a specific need. Both are valid — what matters is knowing which one you have, so you and your supplier set the right expectations.
1 What actually exists, in one place, for this cell?
Check only what's documented well enough that someone else could use it.
2 Could your own team build cell #2 — without calling the integrator?
Yes — it's documented to replicate
Maybe, with some scrambling
No — we'd have to call them back
3 What's the one thing that would block replication today?
Your move · the scale roadmap
Write the three concrete steps that turn this one cell into a repeatable solution. This is what you leave with.
Where does this land right now — project or solution?
A one-off project
Partially repeatable
A documented, replicable solution
Your PATHS verdict ·
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ProjectSolution
Your next moves
The letters you scored lowest — start here. Each one gates the ones after it.
Review everything you captured
The PATHS Audit · From Collaborative Robots to Collaborative Solutions
