Smart automation doesn’t always mean AI – robots as a tool
Author : Mark Gray, Universal Robots
29 April 2019
Many industry experts and leaders have argued that the factory of the future requires a wholesale and expensive digital transformation, with buzzwords like artificial intelligence freely bandied about. Mark Gray of Universal Robots says that while the automation landscape may at first seem complex, it’s nothing to be frightened of.
The challenges facing UK manufactures are well known. Ongoing labour shortages, the increased cost of raw materials, and competition from overseas have all created a situation in which success depends on boosting productivity to increase output without significantly increasing staffing levels. To achieve this, businesses must embrace the factory of the future and implement automation as part of an Industry 4.0 strategy to keep up with consumer demand.
Many industry experts and leaders have argued that the factory of the future requires a wholesale and expensive digital transformation, with buzzwords like artificial intelligence freely bandied about. For example, Elon Musk’s Tesla factory based in California is equipped with smart automation that uses machine learning to constantly improve processes by identifying problem areas. Many other large businesses have also followed this digital revolution by deploying a huge amount of automation within factory and warehouse operations including Ocado and JD.com. However, many manufacturers, especially SMEs with smaller operations and budgets, find this overwhelming, unsure where to begin narrowing down the range of robotics and smart automation technologies that are on the market. The research and time needed to filter through the available automation technologies to find the correct and suitable tech and then select and negotiate with a range of distributers is formidable.
However, while the automation landscape may at first seem complex, robotics is nothing to be frightened of. When SMEs are looking to take the first step into automation, it’s possible to unlock many of the same benefits with a somewhat more straight-forward approach. In fact, the most successful automation projects use robots purely as a tool. It is in the straightforward applications that robots are delivering real value – where they don’t need to be self-sufficient and think for themselves. Instead they just need to take over the time sensitive and laborious tasks, leaving their human co-workers to complete more appropriate tasks where they can feel happier and more valued. Viewing robots simply as tools, just like other objects that increase efficiency and eases the employees work-load, is a great way to introduce automation into a business.
Many people try to crudely evaluate the ROI of investing in automation against the cost of a human doing the same job. However, by working with BMW, MIT researchers have demonstrated that robot-human teams are about 85% more productive than either working in isolation. Smaller manufacturing businesses need to consider flexible collaborative robots (cobots) as a first – and less intimidating – step into the world of automation.
Introducing cobots into existing operations
These light-weight, easy-to-program, flexible and affordable cobots play a vital role in democratising robotic automation so that virtually any business anywhere can use them to boost their competitiveness. This is especially important for SMEs, where cobots can offer flexibility and productivity gains needed to compete with larger rivals. One of the main benefits of cobots is that they have a small-footprint and do not require safety guarding – human employees can safely work alongside the cobots. This is important for SMEs as deploying cobots causes minimal disturbance to working operations and, unlike industrial robots which require huge floor-plan redesigns, cobots can be placed into existing factory operations.
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While some businesses believe that the future of production is ‘lights-out factories’ (facilities that runs 24/7 without any human involvement), due to the demand for personalised and customised goods, human-involvement is necessary to produce individualised products, services and experiences that consumers are demanding.
Putting a ‘human-touch’ back into manufacturing processes is important and this can only be achieved by pairing the technical capabilities and consistent repetitiveness of robots alongside the unique skills of craftspeople and other human specialists. Many tasks performed in production facilities can be automated and implementing a cobot saves workers from performing a repetitive and mindless task which may cause injuries and high staff turnover rates. Essentially, by taking over repetitive and strenuous jobs, humans are freed up for something that requires thought and creativity, which in turn boots work satisfaction and may attract new recruits. In turn, the robot benefits the business by increasing productivity, efficiency and quality. Manufacturers should therefore simply view cobots as another tool in its tool box that enhances the work for their employees.
Cobots create jobs – tools for employees to use
Another barrier to the adoption of automation is the fear that robots and other technologies will replace the jobs of existing employees. It’s a fact that neither side can deny: some jobs will go, but robotic automation is also a net creator of jobs. Most studies of the effects of robot-based automation on human employment focus on limited geographical regions or on labour-intensive industries that rely heavily on the type of workers that robots can easily replace. According to such studies, robots are likely to have a significant negative impact only on certain types of jobs – manufacturing and assembly work where robots will inevitably replace human factory workers in performing monotonous, repetitive and strain-inducing jobs.
Yet even if robots put a certain number of assembly workers out of work, they will create newer – and higher paying – jobs in fields like programming. Robots will eventually become a net creator of jobs, but these will be different from earlier jobs. Furthermore, robots are enabling companies in high-cost countries to “re-shore” parts of their operations previously outsourced to low-cost countries, bringing back jobs and creating new ones. When companies become more competitive, they – along with their suppliers and other interdependent businesses – grow, creating new jobs of all kinds. As well as this, these cobots are easily reprogrammed and can take on new tasks as the business grows. Therefore, when a business introduces more automation technologies into their operations, the cobots do not become redundant but will easily be worked into new processes where they are needed the most.
Therefore, manufacturers shouldn’t get overwhelmed by the numerous smart technologies that are available and the school of thought that all businesses need to undergo a complete and instant digital transformation to survive. Viewing cobots as a tool and integrating them into existing processes is the perfect way to begin implanting an automation program.
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