The past few years have seen many organisations make tech-driven changes at a rapid pace. As society becomes more digital, embracing technology and effectively managing new processes is key to the success of almost every business.
With rapid workplace transformation evident across industries, whether it means moving to hybrid working or adopting new technologies, what can we expect from 2023? Universal Robots offers five predictions for this year.
1. Turnkey solutions will make automation more accessible than ever before: Advances in robotics, machine learning and other technologies promise to change or revolutionise the business world, but all technology companies suffer from the same problem -- they can't be good at everything.
In the world of robotics, this is no different. Creating a robotic system requires hardware, software and application development, sensors and interfaces to name a few. That's why 2023 will be the year of turnkey solutions. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- companies creating new applications and products around existing technologies -- will lie at the heart of this.
OEMs are able to drive innovation by combining technologies to deliver complete solutions for the most common applications, such as welding and palletising. The result? Automation will become more sophisticated yet more straightforward to use than ever before.
Enabled Robotics, an OEM based in Denmark, is a great example of how this works. Since 2016, it has been working to combine two types of cutting-edge technology by mounting collaborative robot arms (cobots) onto autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). This hybrid technology is now operating in industry, warehouse management and production, bringing robotics to service applications and hospital intralogistics.
UNLOCKING IMAGINATION
Ultimately, these out-of-the-box solutions make it easier for companies to integrate crucial technologies and there is no limit to the imaginative ways companies will find to bring robots alongside humans in the world of work.
2. Manufacturers will turn towards modular production: Traditional industrial robots remain important in some fields, but they are typically large and fixed and entail complex deployment.
In contrast, cobots can perform a similar range of activities to traditional industrial robots but are smaller, lighter and much easier to deploy. They are designed to work alongside humans, posing less risk to safety and are better suited to environments that require flexibility and adaptability. On top of this, they are a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to deploy automation.
The cobot industry is projected to grow to $2.2 billion by 2026, according to Interact Analysis. As cobots continue to change the way work is done in applications such as packing, palletising, welding and assembly, in 2023 we will see even larger companies turning to lightweight cobots to increase modularity in their production.
Robot weight and versatility will be the key specifications for those exploring new automation solutions and we foresee more reconfigurable robotic work cells deployed than ever before.
3. Higher payload and longer-reach cobots will change the landscape for some applications: As more companies move towards cobot automation, many will still want to handle heavy payloads. The good news is that we have recently seen the introduction of several higher payload and longer-reach cobots. These will continue to transform parts of the manufacturing industry, improving the working lives of many employees.
4. The long-term increase in industrial robot installation will continue despite global uncertainties: The recent IFR World Robotics Report showed that industrial robot installation reached an all-time high in 2021, increasing by 31% over the previous year. Overall, worldwide annual robot installations between 2015 and 2021 more than doubled. Although growth in 2022 seems to have slowed, this is largely down to global uncertainties triggered by the pandemic and scarcity of electronic components.
We expect the upward trend of cobot automation to resume in 2023. Why? Because businesses are facing labour and skills shortages even as the transition continues towards industry 5.0, where working alongside robots will create human-centric, sustainable and resilient businesses.
HUMAN COLLABORATION
5. Customers will be at the heart of product development: Although we talk extensively about robot collaboration in the workplace, human collaboration is what drives innovation.
Customers understand their own needs better than anyone else and, as the automation market has matured, are better placed than ever before to offer valuable input on their requirements. This means robotics companies will involve end-customers much more in product development.
Co-development projects where robotics companies and customers work together in developing specific solutions are also bound to increase in 2023 and beyond. Ultimately, these allow customers to directly influence the product they are buying, while at the same time, delivering valuable feedback, allowing robotic companies to launch products to the benefit of the whole market.
The future of cobots: Now more than ever, businesses need to innovate constantly and remain adaptable in order to survive and expand. As we head into 2023, they will rely ever more on technology and innovation to break new ground with turnkey solutions at the heart -- all of which make the year ahead an exciting time for automation.
Anders Beck is vice-president of strategy and innovation at Universal Robots.
