One area that has benefited from the world's recent adversity is the automation industry. Covid-19 urges enterprises to speed up their plans to integrate automation and robotics into their business in order to protect themselves from further damage. Dr. Paul rivers, the chief executive of the automation company, reviewed the lessons learned and outlined his forecast for 2022 and beyond.
Last year, we saw that internal logistics automation and autonomous mobile robots (AMRS) have become quite common, both through choice and necessity, as awareness of their benefits has grown. In our 2021 study, in order to explore the importance of logistics automation within companies with warehouse, fulfillment, production or distribution business, we found that 25% of the surveyed companies said that the pandemic accelerated their plans to deploy automation, and three-quarters of the companies planned to invest in the next 12 months. Last year, the pace of adoption of automation was stable. However, this was not due to increased demand - it was actually to meet the operational challenges that enterprises had been facing. These challenges include personnel shortages, social distance requirements, delivery problems and shortages of materials and equipment.
Due to the implementation of strict travel restrictions, the impact of covid-19 was first felt by air and sea transportation; Then, this situation is more serious due to the lack of HGV drivers who can transport goods. Of course, there is a shortage of important manufacturing parts due to factory closures or production cuts.
In addition, the pandemic has seen many enterprises transition to a more flexible remote work mode, and employees have the opportunity to work partially from home. This poses further problems for employers, as workers can now consider further remote opportunities, making the employee market more challenging. The increase of strict social distance criteria has also caused considerable problems in itself, including 2-meter spacing between employees, regional division, increased sanitation facilities, staggered and complex shift and rest patterns, increased personal equipment and additional rest areas, entrances and exits.
This is a minefield of requirements and obstacles that need to be overcome, and it is also part of the reason why so many logistics and manufacturing enterprises, especially automation, embraced last year. However, our findings prove that automation also benefits workers and helps them transform often negative views into more positive ones, thus helping enterprises change more quickly and successfully.
Slightly more than half (54%) of enterprises believe that automation has a positive impact on employees in warehouses and manufacturing plants, including reducing repetitive and arduous manual work (49%), providing opportunities for workers to improve their skills (39%), and increasing flexibility within the enterprise by reducing dependence on physical picking activities, providing relief for overworked employees (40%).
Obviously, we have learned a lot in the past 12 months. 2021 is a year of change, struggle and innovation. British enterprises become less risk averse, more proficient in technology and better cope with the uncertainties of this year. So what will 2022 be like for these industries?
British businesses are reaching a more comfortable position and have some understanding of the additional requirements and challenges of operating businesses during and after the pandemic. This means that they can make clearer decisions with confidence. The pattern of manufacturing and logistics industry has undergone irreversible changes. Enterprises must make corresponding adjustments to ensure that they keep pace with the industry and competitors. Here are five reasons why global automation will shape the progress of enterprises.
High on the business agenda
Our industry survey found that 73% of respondents believe that automation is the key to future business. Automation is beginning to enter the agenda of the board of directors, reaching C-suite. They are embracing automation after realizing the potential of automation in driving business development. In their "forecast 2022" blog, Forrester made a concise summary of it, predicting that enterprises that fully embrace automation will "eliminate - not just defeat - competitors".
Create a global automation platform
Recognizing this new and higher positioning, automation technology suppliers, whether in RPA, BPA or AI, are striving to create a unified and enterprise wide platform to combine technology, robot and human data and processes, so as to bring the global industrial automation market to a new level. Considering its market value, this is not surprising - according to statista, the value of the automation industry is estimated to be $207 billion by 2022, of which the UK accounts for $2 billion.
Solve the problem of labor shortage
The shortage of workers we are currently experiencing will last for some time, and many industry commentators believe that the situation will actually get worse before it improves. Service oriented roles and manual roles, including warehouse work, will be more difficult to fill due to their labor-intensive nature and low wages. Therefore, more and more companies will invest in automation to solve this problem. At least 35% of service companies will introduce physical robot workers to change the pattern of manual workers forever. This advanced mixed labor model will achieve the best effect of the relationship between human and robot, make more effective use of resources, speed up the workflow and reduce human errors. The most advanced robot workers - known as "cobots", that is, cooperative robots, cooperate with humans and usually work in a shared space. These robots have excellent enabling technologies, such as machine intelligence, higher performance capabilities and excellent mobility. As the news of business improvement they can provide in cooperation with human workers spreads, we will hear more and more about these robots next year.
Increased demand for commercial premises
Although the home work model will continue to operate as a successful model, many industries, including manufacturing and logistics, need employees to work in a central location. This will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the design of the workspace, and the layout in the future will be very different from those before the popularity. This in turn will inevitably affect the demand for commercial premises and drive up prices in the coming years. What this new form will look like is still uncertain, but there is no doubt that it will continue to develop in the next five years as we learn to work in a changing environment.
conclusion
It is clear that 2022 will be a year of major innovation, and automation will rise to the top of the business agenda. We are undoubtedly entering a new era, an irreversible era - we embark on the road of automation, not only to protect ourselves from continuous adversity, but also because it has reasonable commercial significance for the future.
There are still many obstacles ahead, but if we can solve these problems, enterprises can have the confidence to withstand another pandemic in terms of structure and defense. But what about those who are hesitant to join the journey of automation? Well, if Forrester is right, they will fall behind, and the enterprises that adopt these advanced technologies will grow rapidly.
