Key points
Over the next year the manufacturing industry will continue to transform as new challenges and opportunities are created. Here we look at how Robotics & Automation are working together and some of the trends that will dominate the 2016 landscape.
The rise of collaborative robots
For a long time there has been a need for the manufacturing industry to address the inefficiencies associated with the way humans and robots work together. Up until recently, robots and employees were separated by large industrial metal cages, as machines did not have the ability to distinguish between objects and workers during the production process. Subsequently this led to downtime during loading and unloading which had an impact on the speed and efficiency of production output.
Manufacturers are beginning to harness collaborative robotics, with the FANUC CR-35iA leading the way. Collaborative robots will be one of the highest areas of growth in the next year, and we’re already seeing heightened demand within the automotive industry. Soon engineers will be working hand-in-hand with these products every day, especially as the technology becomes more readily available and accessible from suppliers.
Servicing a variety of manufacturing industries, collaborative robots can perform both simple and complex tasks, allowing cost savings to be made through automation.
The removal of metal fences within the manufacturing plant floor eliminating a large cost associated with the amount of space used to house the robots and human workers. As a result of this, closer working practices increase manufacturing output and productivity, enabling production to be carried out in one long fluid activity, rather than a stop-start process.
Collaborative working practices also provide healthier and cleaner working conditions. This gives workers better access to pursue skilled jobs in different areas of the business, providing access to training and career development. In cases where simple handling manoeuvres have been carried out by human muscle power, these can now be performed by the robot.
Collaborative robots open up a new era for manufacturing as an indispensable part of production, offering advancements in industry productivity. Further enhancing these machines with vision, force sensors, and artificial intelligence, greatly improves the rate of industrial production, making it more cost and energy efficient, and at the same time reduces waste and drives sustainability.
Safeguarding Industry 4.0
We’ve seen considerable investment in industry 4.0 across the manufacturing industry this year and we’ll continue to see this implemented in 2016. Industry 4.0 technology has changed the face of manufacturing and is seen by many as the fourth industrial revolution, allowing manufacturers to fuse together automation and digitalisation to produce more efficient production models.
According to a report by Cisco, the number of Internet of Things sensors will grow to 50 billion by 2020. Intel has also predicted that there will be 200 billion Internet-connected things in 2030. The Internet of Things is becoming integral to the manufacturing process, creating huge volumes of data to give valuable insights around optimising the performance of overall factory operations.
At the same time this creates a major issue which needs to be tackled, increasing the risks of remote hacking, with DDoS attacks becoming more widely reported over the last year.
A preventative approach must be taken in order to deal with potential cyber threats by implementing a number of low cost, PC-based, dedicated hardware and software controls. These can be installed for factory automation, machine tools and robots.
The impact of factory automation
Factory automation is indispensable to manufacturing, offering advancements in industry productivity. Using intelligent machines greatly improves the rate of industrial production making it more cost and energy efficient, and at the same time reduces waste and drives sustainability. Huge energy savings are also made from implementing servo controlled machines and motors, as opposed to hydraulics and squirrel cage uncontrolled AC motors.
A report published earlier this year by Graetz and Michaels at the London School of Economics shows empirical evidence of the benefits that robotics and automation are bringing to the global economy and factory workers. The research shows that the GDP of 17 countries rose by 0.37 per cent annually, and shows an increase in annual worker productivity by 16 per cent.
Despite speculation over associated job losses, Graetz and Michaels’ study has found that countries which invested significantly in automation between 1993 and 2007, such as Germany and Sweden, have experienced fewer job losses compared to countries that made lesser investments.
The Future – Robotics & Automation
Up until recently, robotics and automation was most widely applied to the automotive and metals industries; sectors which have rapidly expanded over the last 40 years. This is no longer the case – with investment in research and development, and advances in engineering capabilities, robots are equipped with a wider breadth of applications and are entering new industries, such as plastics and medical.
As industrial automation continues to be implemented across manufacturing, developments will continue to be driven by technological innovation. At the same time, complex adaptive systems and multi-processing will take over from real-time systems, further increasing productivity and profitability for manufacturers.
Global spending on robots is expected to jump from £9 billion in 2010 to over £43 billion by 2025. The speed of uptake is driven by a convergence of falling prices and performance improvements, and with automation moving beyond the manufacturing realm, businesses need to invest creatively and effectively in order to reap the benefits.
The full impact of robotics and automation will likely take a generation before it becomes truly measurable. The research available today is the result of years of cumulated data, and reflects the impact of automation since the 1990s. Robotics and automation has boosted global GDP and overall productivity, while transforming the manufacturing workforce.
It is essential that manufacturers therefore prepare themselves for a change in working practices when adopting new technologies, planning effectively for the deployment and resulting impact on the workforce of automation equipment. Investments in robotics and automation are best coupled with training and development programmes that support the re-deployment and associated upskilling of staff.
The challenge for companies is to attract and retain the best talent, while at the same time, investing in new and emerging technologies. That dual approach can keep them ahead in a tough manufacturing landscape.
