This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn MoreThis website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
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.
Before we address today’s testing trends, let’s look at the impact of the pandemic. The pandemic also created conditions that stressed manufacturers and caused major shifts in the way consumers purchase products, experts say.
A lot has changed since March 2020. That’s when the last Quality State of the Profession survey was conducted. The survey was fielded March 9-10, 2020. The next day, WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and it was declared a national emergency in the U.S. a few days after that.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented surge in demand for healthcare and consumer products. This crisis has demanded stockpiles of supplies and has shifted the supply chain to local production.
Businesses worldwide are being tested in a crucible of quality. Companies in which quality was already fragile and inefficient have seen their processes go from lacking to completely broken during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tony Uphoff worked in Manhattan during 9/11. He ran a San Francisco Bay Area business during an earthquake in the 1990s. Despite these experiences, he says that the current pandemic is truly an unprecedented time.
The National Association of Manufacturers released the results of the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2020 showing that despite a historic drop in optimism, to nearly 34%, and challenging business conditions, the vast majority of manufacturers (98.7%) have continued or only temporarily halted operations.
It’s hard to know what’s next. This remains true in business and in life, and it feels especially true right now. The news seems to change on a daily and hourly basis. Predictions about the pandemic can seem out of date within a few days.
Subscribe
