June 2021

44 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk June 2021 Production Engineering SPECIAL FOCUS A utomation can be seen as a complex area, and it is yet to reach its full potential – the challenge remains for robots to accurately and efficiently ‘pick’ items – but this shouldn’t steer organisations away from making that initial investment, explains Paul Rivers, CEO, Guidance Automation. Instead, by incrementally deploying new technologies and starting to innovate your processes, that can be scaled as times goes on, businesses can future- proof their investment and continue to reap the benefits from innovation time and time again. Rivers explains that if we think of robots’ life span like that of a human, it’s currently transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Currently in the ‘teen’ years, robots are learning on the job, working out how to walk and adjust, Grow your own robot Over the past few decades, we have already started to witness the automation evolution take place. Now with the ongoing pandemic acting as a driver for uptake, with two thirds of business leaders using automation to respond to the impact of COVID-19, more and more businesses are looking to automate their processes and take advantage of innovative technology, particularly with social distancing measures in place. PWE reports. particularly in warehouse settings. They haven’t quite got the skills needed to pick effectively, without damaging, dropping or just not being able to grasp items. Instead, a current method that is often used to grab and manipulate the task of picking is the process of suction, which doesn’t compare to human ways and dexterity. But we’re not far away from reaching this transition, with robotics and sensor technology advancing at such a pace, the fully-equipped robot picker and packer will one day become a reality, making robot ‘hands’ viable. But why wait when the benefits of robotics and automation can deliver multiple benefits within the warehouse today? Moreover, when the potential exists to build your own, scaling the technology as innovation becomes reality, businesses can continue to reap the rewards, without ripping and replacing entire infrastructure. So for example, says Rivers, you have an existing robot that moves around the warehouse to help speed up order fulfillment and inventory management, and the humans do the picking and packing. This already provides significant benefits to an organisation, including improved accuracy and productivity, and new levels of efficiency. But once automation and robotics development reaches the next stages where a robot can perform the picking itself, Rivers says it will have additional capabilities because the technology has evolved, in turn, becoming more affordable and usable, unlocking new advantages. He explains that humans will be able to move to the outside edges of the warehouse, enabling warehouse processes to