1. Automation is fundamentally changing industries and workplaces. The International Federation of Robotics predicts that in a decade, more than half of production operators will be working with robots. Big companies? They’re already there, harnessing advanced technology and optimizing their output. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? Not so much.
2. Let’s take a moment to think about why this matters. Representing a whopping 99% of businesses, they’re the cogs and gears of U.S. and European economies — the backbone of job creation, supply chains, economic growth, and innovation. Overall, their role in building national economic resilience cannot be underestimated.
3. The fact that SMEs have typically been slow to harness the benefits of automation matters because a slow pace of adoption is often what prevents businesses from achieving the resilience and efficiency needed to remain competitive. When SMEs lag behind, we all feel it. Manufacturing continues to decline in key markets such as the U.S. and the UK, with both reporting ongoing manufacturing downturns since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
WHY SMES HAVE BEEN SLOW TO AUTOMATE
1. With all their vigor and innovation, why have SMEs been hesitant to ride the wave of automation? One obvious point is that the robotics industry has traditionally been dominated by large, complex machines that require significant up-front investment and in-house expertise to keep them running.
2. There’s also a lesser-known reason. Picture this: a bustling small-scale manufacturer, churning out a diverse range of products but in modest quantities. Here’s the hiccup — shifting traditional robots from one task to another isn’t easy. We’re talking days or weeks of reprogramming, and that’s if you’re even equipped to tweak them in-house. While they might ramp-up efficiency, they often trade it off for flexibility. The game is essentially zero-sum, especially in businesses that thrive on variety.
SMES CAN NO LONGER WAIT TO AUTOMATE
1. But newer technology is creating incredible opportunities for SMEs. Smaller, flexible, collaborative robots (cobots) can be used across a wide range of applications, from machine tending and welding to packaging, palletizing, and screw-driving. State-of-the-art software even allows swift reconfiguration of parts, finally making automation attractive to high-mix, low-volume manufacturers.
2. This technology development could not have come at a better time for the industry. Take the talent crunch. Manufacturing especially is having huge problems recruiting and retaining employees. More than 2 million manufacturing jobs will sit unfilled across the United States by the end of this decade, and three quarters of European companies already have difficulty recruiting suitable workers. Workplaces are crying out for talent and face decreased productivity and unsustainable staff turnover.
THE BENEFITS OF AUTOMATION FOR SMES
1. For those diving into automation, the rewards are plentiful. Robots improve quality and operational efficiency by working consistently and reducing human error. This can be an important gain for SMEs, where inconsistent product quality is sometimes an ongoing challenge. Cobots also improve business adaptability and resilience, allowing companies to meet shifting market demands.
2. It’s worth looking at a real-world example. One of our many SME customers is a company providing custom fabrication services, including cutting, bending, assembly, and welding from its small-town facility in Iowa. Facing long-term challenges finding skilled labor, they decided to automate their welding and stamping tasks with cobots. The shift in just this part of their operations drastically reduced cycle times and cut back on consumable usage. This kind of change creates more sustainable businesses, as well as saving money.
3. But let’s not forget the heart and soul of any enterprise — its people. Cobots can help companies maintain productivity in the face of labor and skills shortages, and by taking on the grunt work, they also create better workplaces for people, which in turn boosts retention and reduces the risk of injury. That’s golden, especially when you consider our aging workforce. Physical stress is one reason many over 50s opt for early retirement, so creating new work pathways with less physically intense work opens the possibility of holding on to valuable experience.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
1. With the technology in place, what is needed now is greater awareness and understanding of what makes for successful implementation. I’d like to offer five pointers for SMEs thinking about automation.
TAKE A HOLISTIC LOOK AT YOUR PROCESSES
1. For automation to be truly transformative, businesses shouldn’t just think of it as just a tech-upgrade. As MIT researchers Ben Armstrong and Julie Shah have found, the journey to automation needs to blend seamlessly with the overarching business vision and strategy.
2. And here’s the kicker: It’s more than just swapping human arms with robotic ones. The nitty-gritty details of processes may need a revamp, especially if they’ve been designed for manual operators. Picture this: Long metal shavings from CNC operations can get stuck in weird places.
3. While we humans can quickly pick them out, a robot will not be able to. We’ve seen savvy machine shops working with suppliers like Sandvik Coromant to find new cutting tools that churn out shorter, robot-friendly shavings. The future is being crafted in these granola-sized details.
START SMALL AND THINK SIMPLE
1. Excited about automation? It’s tempting to go big or go home but we’ve seen automation projects fail when small businesses start out trying to do something overly complicated. An incremental approach is often best. Don’t go into it thinking lights-out production.
2. The trick is to start small with the low-hanging fruit. Navigate the learning curve of robotics with your feet planted firmly in reality. To begin with, even a few hours of extra production time each day is a massive win for most SMEs. Pinpoint a single, clear-cut task for your automation debut, nail that and then use the learnings for the next project.
3. Looking again at our welding example above, the firm decided to start by automating in the section hit hardest by a skills gap. Once it saw the productivity leaps there, it started looking at what else it could automate. At the point we visited, another welding cobot was the most obvious next step, but they were also assessing the case for using cobots for machine tending tasks involving CNC machines, mills, and lathes.
BRING YOUR PEOPLE WITH YOU
1. Approaching automation bit by bit? There’s genius in that because not only does it help build technical know-how, it also helps rally the team behind the cause. Think of automation as a change-management process. When one part of your operations has upped its game with automation, other teams will be itching to give it a try. Why does this matter? Because employee buy-in is critical.
2. If you’re wondering how to get people excited, one of our Danish customers started their automation journey by using a robot to hand out soft drinks in the canteen — a great idea for getting folk comfortable with the new technology.
3. In any workplace, successful implementation is generally driven by an automation champion. This person can sit anywhere in your org chart, but they bring passion to the mission, grab the reins, and run with it.
USE AUTOMATION AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR UPSKILLING
1. Businesses should see cobot automation as an opportunity to upskill their teams. This idea is backed up by the MIT research, which points to the importance for successful deployment of focus on human-robot collaboration and workforce development.
2. Upskilling isn’t just about making sure employees are ready to work side-by-side with robots. It’s also about creating appealing tech-based jobs for the next generation of manufacturers. It might seem like a big leap, but it’s more straightforward than you’d think.
3. It’s not about creating robot experts; a few online modules of basic training can make robots seem less intimidating and foster a sense of team buy-in.
4. Free online training and in-person training is available for those ready to learn to interact with their new robot co-workers. Embracing collaborative automation is really about embracing a mindset of continuous learning and growth.
REACH OUT FOR SUPPORT
1. A final piece of advice: Find out where you can get help with automation and use it. Some countries and states provide subsidies or financial aid to help SMEs automate. Take Sweden for instance: Their Agency for Economic and Regional Growth has teamed up with the Swedish Industrial Robot Association to boost SME automation know-how and investment. And over in the U.S.? Every state’s got a Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, a public-private partnership offering advice on automation and sometimes factory surveys too.
2. When you’re ready to commit to implementation, consider calling in professionals to help you get set up. A professional integrator can prove money well spent, especially if it ends up speeding up your ROI. Some of these integrators are application specialists, like Vectis Automation in the U.S., a fabrication specialist which offers evaluations and turn-key solutions for its customers, or Dahl Automation in Germany which supports customers through palletizing applications.
3. While more and more applications are delivered with full plug-and-play solutions, integrators can also create bespoke solutions. One of our customers, a Wisconsin-based contract machining and fabrication company, got thrown a curveball when a large customer order was unexpectedly cancelled on the same day they received their new cobot-based machine tending system specifically designed for that order. Local integrator PCC Robotics stepped in giving the cobot a quick makeover with some reprogramming and 3D-printed grippers, which allowed the company to run a variety of different parts on the system. Thanks to that, the company could automate CNC machine tasks, which gave employees the chance to tackle more valuable and interesting work.
4. Collaborative automation isn’t a fleeting trend. It’s an incredible and versatile tool for combating the business challenges facing today’s SMEs. Implemented correctly, cobots enhance operational efficiency, strengthen resilience, address labor and skills shortages, and encourage workforce upskilling and retention. This positions SMEs for enhanced productivity and growth, helping them navigate the complexities of the modern global market.
Source:
https://hbr.org/2023/11/a-new-generation-of-robots-can-help-small-manufacturers
