Industry case studies

Cobots and service robots are already delivering measured results in hospitals, kitchens, factories, hotels and warehouses worldwide. These are published third-party deployments — we share them so you can judge the technology on real numbers, and we scope, program and support the same kind of tasks for you.

These are published third-party deployments, not smert.ai projects. smert.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the companies or robot manufacturers named. Brand names appear in plain text for factual reference only.

Healthcare & cleaning

Vaasa Central Hospital

Finland

Autonomous UV-C disinfection of patient rooms, complementing manual cleaning protocols.

→Repeatable, controlled disinfection cycles with less variability between shifts
→Deployed in live patient rooms alongside staff and patients

Charlie UV-C robot (Done Robotics)

Source: Done Robotics

National University Hospital

Singapore

Seven-day live pilot of autonomous restroom cleaning across male, female and handicap restrooms on a hospital ward.

→>85% coverage across key fixtures
→Operated by on-site staff after handover; hospital management recommended future deployment

Abluo cleaning robot (Hivebotics), with ISS Facility Services

Source: Hivebotics

Ipswich Hospital (NHS)

United Kingdom

Autonomous corridor cleaning to free staff for detailed sanitising work.

→~703 m² cleaned per hour; productivity up almost 300%
→Over 15 staff-hours per day redeployed to detailed cleaning

Co-Botics scrubber (ICE)

Source: Robotics and Automation Magazine

Winona Health

United States

Robotic floor scrubbing across a community healthcare campus facing environmental-services staff shortages.

→Cleaning productivity increased by 50% across the campus

Cobi 18 robotic scrubber (ICE Cobotics)

Source: ICE Cobotics

Karolinska University Laboratory

Sweden

Cobots opening transport sleeves and scanning test tubes — tasks repeated thousands of times a day.

→Repetitive-strain workload removed from lab staff
→Second robot added after COVID-era sample volumes grew

Collaborative lab robots (AutoMed project)

Source: Karolinska University Hospital

Kitchen & food

Amy's Kitchen

United States

Flexible cobot system depositing ingredients into frozen-meal trays on existing lines.

→Product consistency improved 12%; food giveaway reduced 4%
→Labor productivity increased 17%

Chef Robotics depositing system

Source: Automation World

Café Spice

United States

AI-powered portioning robots on two ready-meal lines, deployed as a subscription (RaaS) with no large upfront capital.

→Production throughput increased 2–3×
→Over-portioning waste eliminated; SKU changeovers in under 10 minutes

Chef Robotics RaaS cells (16 robots)

Source: ProFood World

Compass Group HQ

United Kingdom

Tray-delivery cobots serving the head-office restaurants and meeting rooms after a four-week measured trial.

→Operator hours saved and service times improved, measured during the pilot
→Rolled out across the HQ and offered to large clients after trial success

Keenbot tray robots (SoftBank Robotics)

Source: Catering Insight

Samsung Welstory

South Korea

Automated frying in a headquarters cafeteria serving 450 people — fried chicken, pork cutlets, dumplings.

→Staff removed from hot-oil work, reducing burn and fire risk
→Up to six fried dishes prepared simultaneously with pre-programmed recipes

WELIBOT frying cell (Rainbow Robotics RB5-850N)

Source: Rainbow Robotics

Cascade Coffee

United States

Six cobot palletizing units at a contract coffee roaster, replacing manual stacking under chronic labor shortage.

→ROI in about 13 months
→Safety and employee satisfaction improved on a physically demanding task

Palletizing Solution (Robotiq)

Source: Robotiq

Manufacturing

Nymann Teknik

Denmark

Cobot feeding a CNC lathe 10–12 hours a day in a five-person machine shop.

→Payback in three months
→Production cost-competitive with Asian outsourcing; first program written in 90 minutes

UR5 cobot (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

EMI Integrated Systems

Israel

Modular cobot cells tending CNC milling, mill-turn, CMM and laser-marking machines for high-precision parts.

→Overall equipment effectiveness up from ~70% to ~95%
→Hundreds of production hours added annually; payback in 12–18 months

UR5/UR10 cobots with acubez automation (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

B-Loony Ltd

United Kingdom

Six cobots handling balloon inflation, sewing and product assembly for a bespoke promotional-products maker.

→Food-flag output up from 250,000 to 15 million per year
→ROI in nine months; production kept in the UK

UR3 cobots (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

SMEW Textile Machinery

India

Pick-and-place cobot in a small textile-machine manufacturer, working unfenced next to operators.

→Output up 300% within a year of deployment

UR10 cobot (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

Alliora

France

End-of-line cobot palletizing of 5–12 kg boxes at a 50-employee packaging manufacturer with seasonal demand.

→One week from delivery to stacking boxes
→ROI in 18 months; ~23 metric tons per shift no longer lifted by hand

Palletizing Solution (Robotiq)

Source: Robotiq

Mechanics & repair

Nymann Teknik

Denmark

Cobot feeding a CNC lathe 10–12 hours a day in a five-person machine shop.

→Payback in three months
→Production cost-competitive with Asian outsourcing; first program written in 90 minutes

UR5 cobot (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

EMI Integrated Systems

Israel

Modular cobot cells tending CNC milling, mill-turn, CMM and laser-marking machines for high-precision parts.

→Overall equipment effectiveness up from ~70% to ~95%
→Hundreds of production hours added annually; payback in 12–18 months

UR5/UR10 cobots with acubez automation (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

SMEW Textile Machinery

India

Pick-and-place cobot in a small textile-machine manufacturer, working unfenced next to operators.

→Output up 300% within a year of deployment

UR10 cobot (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

Hospitality

Compass Group HQ

United Kingdom

Tray-delivery cobots serving the head-office restaurants and meeting rooms after a four-week measured trial.

→Operator hours saved and service times improved, measured during the pilot
→Rolled out across the HQ and offered to large clients after trial success

Keenbot tray robots (SoftBank Robotics)

Source: Catering Insight

Aloft Silicon Valley

United States

Autonomous robot butler handling room-service and amenity deliveries in a 172-room hotel.

→Room-service delivery time cut by 80% (15 minutes to 2)
→22,300+ deliveries over 4.5 years; ~6% RevPAR increase

Botlr robot butler (Relay Robotics)

Source: Relay Robotics

Maldron Hotel Newcastle

United Kingdom

Autonomous room-service robot delivering amenities across floors in a four-star city-centre hotel.

→Room-service revenue up 100%; ~£4,000 additional revenue
→Robot handles 90–95% of room-service orders

ButlerBot W3 (SPARK Robotics)

Source: SPARK Robotics

Marina Bay Sands

Singapore

Seventeen autonomous mobile robots moving 300 kg loads from loading bays to kitchens and storage across the resort.

→Labour dependency cut by 30%; staff upskilled to manage the fleet
→200+ manual deliveries per day across 80 routes automated, distances up to 800 m

Autonomous mobile robots (resort-wide fleet)

Source: Marina Bay Sands

Logistics & packing

Marina Bay Sands

Singapore

Seventeen autonomous mobile robots moving 300 kg loads from loading bays to kitchens and storage across the resort.

→Labour dependency cut by 30%; staff upskilled to manage the fleet
→200+ manual deliveries per day across 80 routes automated, distances up to 800 m

Autonomous mobile robots (resort-wide fleet)

Source: Marina Bay Sands

DCL Logistics

United States

Cobot picking and packing in an e-commerce fulfillment center, integrated into the existing work cell.

→500% efficiency increase and 100% order accuracy
→50% labor savings; ROI in three months

UR10e cobot (Universal Robots)

Source: Universal Robots

Cascade Coffee

United States

Six cobot palletizing units at a contract coffee roaster, replacing manual stacking under chronic labor shortage.

→ROI in about 13 months
→Safety and employee satisfaction improved on a physically demanding task

Palletizing Solution (Robotiq)

Source: Robotiq

Napco Brands

United States

Two end-of-line palletizing cobots at a 65-employee private-label coffee packer, running two shifts.

→Eight workers per day freed for other tasks; productivity up 15%
→ROI in under a year; 180,000 single-serve cups palletized daily

Cobot palletizers (Robotiq)

Source: Modern Materials Handling

Alliora

France

End-of-line cobot palletizing of 5–12 kg boxes at a 50-employee packaging manufacturer with seasonal demand.

→One week from delivery to stacking boxes
→ROI in 18 months; ~23 metric tons per shift no longer lifted by hand

Palletizing Solution (Robotiq)

Source: Robotiq

Construction & rework prevention

MBN

Germany

AI comparison of 360-degree site captures against the BIM model on a major residential project.

→38 relevant site errors identified during the project
→A misplaced drywall caught right after installation, avoiding about €7,000 of rework

Buildots AI site analysis with koppla scheduling

Source: CaseStudies.com

A Hong Kong contractor (unnamed in source)

Hong Kong

Continuous LiDAR scanning to catch excavation deviations from BIM before follow-on trades start.

→60% reduction in rework reported
→3,200+ survey hours saved; as-built BIM record for DEVB compliance

viLid 4D LiDAR reality capture (viAct)

Source: viAct

Timberline Construction

United States

Scan-to-BIM and multi-trade clash detection before mobilisation on a life-sciences lab renovation.

→350 clashes resolved before any trade reached the field
→About US$45,000 of rework and chargebacks avoided

LiDAR scan + Revit coordination (OAR)

Source: OAR

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