Industrial robotics: Past, present, and future
Some of the benefits of industrial robotics haven’t changed much in over 50 years—they can do dull, dangerous, and dirty work better, faster, and more consistently than humans. But today, automation is supercharging them.
Efficiency and productivity
Contrary to the common doomsaying that robots and AI will take peoples’ jobs, industrial robots are helping produce more stuff faster and better with the same resources (both human and material). This increased automation will allow human workers to move up the chain of command, into positions of creative fleet management.
Quality
With the increased use of precision industrial robots, the consistency and quality of products will also improve. Industrial robots will be able to handle ever finer and more detailed tasks, and when combined with tools like generative design, designs will be stronger, last longer, and perform better.
Safety and health benefits
As people work alongside robots more, their collaboration will provide a growing dataset for machine learning to constantly improve performance. This will produce a better end result and also a more assured in-process collaboration style that prioritizes worker safety.
Cost savings
Before the pandemic pushed global society further into the world of automation, the numbers were in, and the elements of smart manufacturing (of which industrial robotics are a pivotal part) were enabling real cost savings. A 2019 study saw increases of 10% in production output, 11% in capacity usage, and 12% in labor productivity as a result of smart manufacturing technology. These increases can lead, in turn, to improvements in companies’ bottom lines.
Analytics
Industrial robotics generate and collect vast datasets as part of the Industrial Internet of Things. When the performance and status of every component and every step of every process can be represented digitally, analytic tools can be applied to get that data to tell multiple stories.
This can reveal how machinery is performing, whether the technology ROI is paying off, which tools need repairing or replacing, and much more. Connecting this data with data in other domains like supplier or sales systems can provide an accurate, constantly updated view of a company’s market position.
Human development
Manufacturing or construction workers once got covered in grease and sawdust, smelled like paint or oil, and suffered injuries or maladies common to their fields. Industrial robots in an automated workflow can shift human jobs from these often dangerous roles to new positions that connect workers’ know-how with the visibility analytics AI can provide. Human workers are increasingly designing, implementing, and managing robotics workflows that do the hard stuff while they use their human creativity and experience to make the business better.
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