---
title: "Free extra shifts: 168 hours a week with one robot | OpiFlex"
description: Two shifts use 48 % of the 168 hours in a week. How a robot shared between machines turns the rest into free extra shifts, and when a fixed robot is right.
image: https://blog.opiflex.se/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p18-mobile-vs-fixed-productivity.png
---

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# 168 hours a week: free extra shifts

[small series manufacturing](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/small-series-manufacturing) [mobile robots](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/mobile-robots) [Machine Tending](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/machine-tending) [Production Economics](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/production-economics)

Updated at: 14 October 2026

There are 168 hours in a week. Two shifts use 48 % of them. Why not use the machines, and the robot, more?

## Faster is not always more

A robot increases productivity. In our production economics model, validated by Chalmers University of Technology, a robot gives 20–60 % higher productivity and 20–40 % shorter lead time compared with manual work.

With a fixed robot, that gain only pays off if you can sell the extra volume. Otherwise the robot is simply ready earlier, and then waits for the next order.

A fixed robot is still the right choice in many places. With one machine, few products and long series, it runs the same job for years and does it well.

![Increased profitability with automation: why a movable robot differs from a fixed robot](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p18-mobile-vs-fixed-productivity.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=p18-mobile-vs-fixed-productivity.png)

## Move the robot to the next machine

When the robot can move between machines, you get the full benefit of the higher productivity. When one machine runs out of work, the robot is moved to the next one instead of standing still.

One SME case shows what that means. A single robot is shared between a CNC machine, a panel bender and a press brake, running 530 products a year. It is in use 97 of the 168 hours in a week. Productivity went up 46 %, and 4.2 operators were freed for other work.

## Start the next machine when you leave

That is where the free extra shifts come from. Start a new machine when you leave for the day, or for the weekend, and let the robot run. One of our customers starts the cell when the staff go home and follows it on a webcam during the night.

The operator adds new parts in 1–3 minutes with the Dynamic Program Generator, without robot skills, so short series are worth running too.

## What it typically corresponds to

In machining and sheet metal, a mobile robot typically corresponds to 1.2–1.5 people per shift, and in wood normally 1.5–1.6. With a fixed robot, the figure is normally one person.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqYxL7knMlw" title="OpiFlex mobile robot at a turn-mill machine" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## How many hours are you using?

I would like to hear how many machines you have, how many shifts you run and which machines stand still at night. Send us a few pictures of typical parts, and we can see together how many extra hours a mobile robot could give you. [Contact us](https://www.opiflex.se/en/contact/).

Johan Frisk

[Read more from Johan Frisk](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/author/johan-frisk)

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