The one of the greatest change for the industrial sector was, undoubtedly, the invention of robots. Their use in many verticals results in heightened levels of productivity. This, being recognized by businesses makes them willing to invest even more in the equipment to gain advantage over their competitors. According to a research by BCG – In 2015, only 10% of the tasks are done by robots where as in 2025, it is estimated that 25% of the tasks will be done by robots. This increase in use of robots are due to increasing capabilities and dropping prices of robots. Also, the ever-growing deployment of AI and sensor technologies will further fuel the application of robots in industrial setup. This prediction might also see contributions from the underlying opportunities for the largest manufacturing segment – small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are the true backbone of the economy, around 60% of EU manufacturing employees worked at SMEs in 2016, according to the European Commission Such companies have had a tough time implementing standard robotic equipment in production processes given their different needs. This has started to change recently, with the development of new type of equipment that resolves most of the challenges that other robots put forth for smaller businesses
Challenges:
When it comes to using conventional industrial robots, small and medium sized businesses are facing some of the following challenges, which discourages them from investing in equipment:
For starters, SMEs’ finances are much too lean to afford a standard industrial robot, additionally, they do not have specialized workers who would be able to program and maintain the robot (and would be very expensive to hire one) – as a lot of their specialist knowledge is primarily focused on their core business. Another constraint for them is the availability of space on the shop floor. A typical industrial robot would be too big for them and as a result, setting up such robots is rather viewed as impractical than a productive upgrade. Even if SMEs manage to purchase such a robot, their business usually operates in a low volume high mix manner, meaning they have more process variations and don’t mass produce like their enterprise counterparts
Solution:
How should SMEs tackle these challenges? It seems that there is one simple solution, which could solve most of the challenges – collaborative robots
First, the need for a programmer who would handle the machine is obsolete, as robots are quick and easy to set up without the need of expert knowledge in conventional coding. Their intuitive interfaces learn by watching human actions and can be guided by human operators through the steps of the process just by showing them how to mimic actions. In addition to that, collaborative robots are real space savers, as their compact size eliminates the problem of bulky industrial robots taking up a lot of work space. Another challenge which they tackle is the smaller production batches – their easy re-deployment gives them the ability to perform in variety of sectors and cover more use cases. In relation to workplace safety, not only their small size and lightweight structure contribute, but also collaborative robots are smart enough to recognize their surroundings. Due to the robot’s sensors, robots can stop when it comes in close contact with something around. When robots are being used for more vigorous tasks, it can slow down when sensing an approaching person and stop if he or she enters a specific perimeter. These robots are made of soft surfaces and have a lot of round corners and also, their safety measures are that they carry lower payload. Another great benefit for the limited budgets of SMEs is faster ROI, which can be achieved for as little as a year
Exciting times are approaching for small and medium-sized enterprises and for businesses in general as more changes are bound to follow in the manufacturing. If you are interested in hearing more about robotics’ part in SMEs – you are welcome to visit our presentation “Major developments in robotics industry: Outlook 2020” by Adam Kenyeres (Senior Market Advisor), which will be held at Hannover Fair – the Automation Forum (Halle 14, Stand L19) on April 26th 2018 from 14:40-15:00
