MT Magazine January/February 2023

FEATURE STORY

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023

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To be sure, there are reasons why this is the case. For example, by their very nature, robots are flexible. This means that when one vehicle goes out of production or fewer of them need to be built, the robots can be refurbished and deployed elsewhere. In fact, that is one of the beauties of robotic automation: It isn’t fixed. It can be reused. Potentially only the end-of-arm tooling is the hard equipment that needs to be changed. However, there are bright spots in the IFR numbers for the three categories that follow auto in the United States in ranking:

SelectUSA, a U.S. Department of Commerce program, conducted a study on the impact of robots on productivity, “Robots and the Economy: The Role of Automation in Driving Productivity Growth.” It found: “For all industries, there was a positive relationship between industrial robot density and productivity. An increase in industrial robot density of one percent correlated with an increase in productivity of 0.8 percent, all else equal.” This isn’t a case of robots subtracting people but of robots being additive on the factory floors. There is another finding that should be of importance to those who are part of the roughly 20% who have yet to embrace automation technology: “For the industries that were slower robot adopters, a one percent increase in industrial robot density simultaneously occurred with a 5.1 percent increase in productivity, all else equal.” As companies are looking for any productive edge, there is clearly a route to improvement through robotics – especially for those companies that have been lagging in robot deployment. Muda-Busting Going back to the IFR figures: Globally, the top three installation areas for robots (and they’ve been leading for the past three years) are: – SelectUSA, “Robots and the Economy: The Role of Automation in Driving Productivity Growth” For all industries, there was a positive relationship between industrial robot density and productivity. An increase in industrial robot density of one percent correlated with an increase in productivity of 0.8 percent, all else equal.

While robots have long been a feature of manufacturing operations in the United States, and while it might seem that they are, in many cases, a “given,” that is far from being the case. Think about the photos of robots being deployed in manufacturing that appear in mainstream publications: Almost always it’s of an automotive spot-welding line – plenty of arms and sparks galore. But “Motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts” is only one of multiple segments in an analysis of U.S. manufacturing: Deployment in other industries (e.g., the aforementioned metal and machinery, plastic and chemical products, and food categories) are important opportunities. And while robots may be thought of in the context of that spot-welding line, equipment advances over the years (ease of use; simple programming; advanced sensors), make robots accessible to manufacturing facilities of all sizes. According to the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Work Survey 2020” report, 78% of companies surveyed in the United States said that they are “likely” or “very likely” to deploy robots – by 2025. Clearly, there is valuable traction occurring in those other companies of various sizes. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs To point out that there are plenty of open positions at manufacturing facilities of all sizes is to state the obvious. What’s more, managers recognize that it is important to make sure that the people on staff remain there. So, it is important to leverage existing resources. Which is essentially the point of robotic automation. Want to gain a productivity improvement? Look at robots.

If we consider Taiichi Ohno’s seven wastes of manufacturing, called “muda” – overproduction, waiting, conveyance, processing, inventory, motion, correction – the handling tasks **According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job category “Assemblers and fabricators” will have a decline of available jobs of 6% between 2021 and 2031. There is a good likelihood that automation is a factor.