Just Starting the Automation Game? Three Steps to Make the Jump Easier and More Cost-Effective
If you're still considering taking the first—or possibly next—step in your automation journey, start with the following steps to facilitate the process and feel more comfortable doing it.
More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, two things have become steadily clear: First, the overall trend associated with purchasing and deploying robots for applications such as process improvement and quality assurance continues, with stats from The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) showing a 20 percent increase in robot orders in Q1 2021 over the same period last year. Second, the pandemic actually accelerated trends that were already underway, including more non-automotive companies deploying robotics. As these companies continue to experience, robotics and other forms of automation help keep factories, warehouses, and offices up and running, especially when having difficulties hiring or bringing workers into the facilities. It also keeps productivity and quality high and can even help disinfect their workplaces, all helping companies remain globally competitive and be prepared for future pandemics.
Companies reluctant to jump on the automation bandwagon—or that have only dabbled with one or two applications—often express concerns about how to get started or expand, what it might cost, and whether production would need to slow down or even halt completely during implementation. Fortunately, “automation has never been easier, more cost-effective, or more powerful than it is today,” according to A3’s new Beginner’s Guide to Automation, penned by Keith Shaw of Robotics Data, LLC. “Developments in technology and lower costs for equipment are giving small and midsize companies the opportunity to explore automation,” Shaw wrote. “And depending on the system or type of robot deployed, companies can see a return-on-investment in six to 15 months on average.” Even more, with ongoing improvements in software, automation is becoming easier to deploy and easier to use - existing staff on a factory floor can quickly learn to operate a robot rather than relying on a roboticist or engineer, in many cases.