DAC102021

Buy SKF System 24 automatic lubricators online SKF Automatic Lubricators with food safe lubricants eliminate concerns of potential missed lubrication points, while reducing the maintenance time of your food processing equipment. IMPROVE FOOD PRODUCTION LINE EFFICIENCY Visit: www.acorn-ind.co.uk & search: LAGD125 NSF or call: 0800 8766 441 n COMMENT USING ROBOTS TO PLUG SKILLS GAPS In a world where almost every major manufacturing country is suffering from skills shortages, the old argument about whether robots and automation are stealing or creating jobs is becoming almost irrelevant. If these technologies can help to fill the massive void in manufacturing vacancies, they will be doing almost everyone a service. It is not only the UK where there is a dearth of skilled manufacturing personnel. According to a recent report from Interact Analysis, there are close to 150,000 vacancies in the German manufacturing sector and more than 800,000 in the US. Compared to those figures, the UK’s shortfall of around 68,000 seems almost modest – but the manufacturing sector here is much smaller. Germany is an interesting case. It is suffering from a combination of problems – an ageing population, low birth rates, and a shortage of skilled immigrant workers – all, of course, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. The chairman of the German Federal Labour Agency said recently that the country needs to attract 400,000 skilled immigrants annually to keep up with demand in all sectors, including industry. Although the number of foreign nationals living in Germany rose by more than 200,000 last year, this was the smallest increase for ten years, and was offset almost entirely by a 150,000 drop in working- age residents as older Germans retire. Under these circumstances, it is hard to see the increased use of automation as being anything but beneficial. It offers the prospect of substituting for many of the more tedious, repetitive factory-floor tasks, freeing up people for more challenging and fulfilling roles. Of course, if robots are going to take on these tasks, they, in turn, will need skilled people to manufacture and program them. The number of industrial robots installed worldwide more than doubled in the ten years to 2020, when the total reached three million. Each of these machines has had to be programmed to perform one or more specific tasks – and this necessitates many programming experts. Although we are continually hearing about claimed breakthroughs (mainly in software) that will allow people with no or little programming experience to set up robots, most robot-using companies would probably prefer to have someone experienced configuring their machines and applications – at least until the new technologies have proven themselves. The major robot-makers are helping to create the skills needed to commission and service their machines. Between them, ABB, Fanuc and Kuka are offering robot training for up to 30,000 people a year in more than 30 countries around the world, according to a recent analysis by the International Federation of Robotics. But these newly skilled personnel will probably not be enough if the number of installed industrial robots continues to expand at a similar rate to recent years. It seems likely that robot programmers are likely to be in even higher demand than HGV drivers. Tony Sacks, Editor