UK

Rise Of Robotics In Manufacturing

Integrating A1 artificial intelligence into the workforce is certainly not a new concept and we are already and have been for some time,  interacting with digital staff. We only have to look around the supermarket at the self- serving stations and at the computerized train station assistants to realise that Robot automation has existed for some time in one form or another.

 

A new report released by the international federation of Robotics demonstrates and highlights that Robot density has accelerated globally and continues to do so. Industrial Robots for example have been speeding up operations within many industries and automation is also making core processes cheaper and smarter, according to the report over 59% of manufacturers are already using some form of Robot technology.

 

The increase in Robot automation has a bigger and wider overall effect however by helping to greatly improve productivity for the UK manufacturing sector.

 

Robots within manufacturing businesses are more likely to be seen collaborating with workers rather than replacing them. If we look at Tesla Gigafactory which is considered one of the most advanced factories ever built, autonomous Robots self- navigate by way of indoor vehicles and their primary goal is to move goods between work stations.

 

The term cobot refers to Robots that collaborate with human workers and the ROI behind Cobots has already been realized by companies such as Cornell Dubilier. The company is a power capacitor based in the US and initially employed the use of Robots to inspect capacitor installations and since the introduction of Robots, the speed of its labelling process has increased, doubling from 125 parts per hour to 250.

 

There is huge possibility within the UK for manufacturers to adopt Robots and artificial intelligence but the UK is still struggling with a simple lack of understanding of how to effectively introduce Robot technology within their businesses.  We do know that Robot automation is happening slowly across the UK in the manufacturing sector, however the UK still needs many more initiatives to gain awareness in how Robots and their technology can enhance the work force and increase productivity.