Drives & Controls Magazine February 2023

34 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING February 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com are less likely to be automated in the short- to-medium term (Fig 1). Upsides Where operations can be automated, the benefits include the abilities to work faster and at a higher capacity, as well as to achieve high levels of quality (Fig 2). In addition, there are upsides in terms of cost, operational uptime and safety. On the other hand, environmental and sustainability factors are less likely to be positively affected. A standout message from the survey is that automation is not easy. Participants report that the main challenges include the capital cost of robots and a lack of experience with automation – cited by 71% and 61% of respondents, respectively. Some say that business confidence in technology is low, leading to challenges around conviction and funding. Moreover, expectations of achieving production and reliability gains through automation are offset by the belief that such gains will eliminate jobs and may affect existing contracts. In fact, automation typically leads to changes in workplace roles rather than redundancies. Many companies currently operate a hodgepodge of legacy technologies and expect challenges in implementing a single set of solutions backed by integrated and interoperable programming and platforms for robotics and automation. Of the survey respondents, 42% cite challenges in finding holistic, end-to-end solution providers across geographies for the robotics technologies that are of interest to them. They are responding to such issues by increasing partnerships with legacy-system integrators and robotics start-ups and disruptors promising cutting-edge innovations. The surevy participants are also worried about fitting robots into existing spaces and the possibility that machines will not be able to interface with products. Concerns about safety and cyber-attacks are other potential areas of jeopardy. Despite significant capital commitments, many manufacturers are struggling to translate their intentions for robotics and automation into actions, with challenges related to knowledge and return-on- investment being particularly difficult hurdles. In the retail and consumer goods sector, about 60% of respondents cite these factors as being barriers to progress. Other headwinds include a lack of technological readiness and concerns over system reliability. The challenges that industries face present robotics and automation suppliers with significant opportunities to help build the capabilities needed to automate at scale, or to offer support for this effort. However, vendors will need to provide convincing answers to the questions raised by their customers and to work hard to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Differentiation End-users want to see differentiation in price, scale and innovation. Other important buying factors include the quality of product builds, the ability to offer integrated systems, and evidence of reference cases that show successful rollouts. Moreover, vendors need offerings that are cost-efficient, rapidly deployed, reliable, safe and scalable. They also need to be able to move quickly from prototype to scale in customers’ organisations. One reliable route to differentiation is to enhance software and hardware sales with full-service models offering not only installation and integration, but also maintenance and support throughout the product lifecycle. Indeed, 62% of the survey respondents prefer robotics and automation providers that offer full-service models. Automation suppliers that move towards robotics as a service and act as a single point-of-contact for maintenance (for both hardware and software) will create a distinct competitive advantage. The survey respondents also value variable-cost models, such as cost per pick. Drilling down into maintenance and service models, 55% of those surveyed would prefer systems integrators who can act as a single point-of-contact and provide both hardware and software maintenance. Meanwhile, 52% want a convertible model in which integrators hand over responsibilities to in-house teams gradually. Other common preferences are the abilities to work with OEMs for hardware and integrators for software, and to contract with local third parties for all maintenance needs. Offering the right service at the right time in the right way is a big ask for robotics and automation suppliers. However, given the need for industrial companies to boost productivity, create stable supply chains, and find alternatives to the overheated labour market, the effort is likely to be justified by the reward. Providers that help companies to realise the benefits of robotics and automation, and scale the technologies across markets, are likely to emerge with strong revenues and positive business trajectories. The productivity gains and capacity flexibility resulting from automation could also improve operational resilience, which is critical during a time of increased disruptions. n Fig. 2: Areas where automation is expected to have an impact (per cent of respondents) Source: McKinsey Global Industrial Robotics Survey Fig. 3: Bottlenecks to adopting automation, by sector (per cent of respondents) Source: McKinsey Global Industrial Robotics Survey