OnRobot Advanced end effectors can make cobots more useful in solving the labor shortages faced by US manufacturers. OnRobot is helping manufacturers solve production issues by developing grippers and other end effectors that make robots effective. The need for cobots – those robots that work well with humans – was already growing before COVID-19. When the pandemic hit, the need for automation accelerated. Another driver for cobot adoption is the relatively low cost and uncomplicated deployment requirements that put these machines within reach of small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). We caught up with Kristian Hulgard, general manager of the Americas division at OnRobot, an end effector company, to learn about the current market for cobots and the impact end effectors have on the market.