Factory Automation is Inevitable!
Published on : Sunday 05-03-2023
Can a rapid shift towards lights out manufacturing enable businesses to maximize their productivity, asks Shubham Patidar.
From time immemorial, humans have experimented with ways to make their day-to-day lives more efficient. In ancient times, most of the work was done through manual labour using simple tools and machines. However, with escalated competition and growing end user demand, the whole focus gradually shifted towards advanced technologies and automation.
Automation has always held a lot of potential for the manufacturing industry with its tendency to enhance productivity, precision, and flexibility as well as improve workers’ safety and decrease costs.
Factory automation is the integration of automation into manufacturing processes. It includes the incorporation of technologies such as sensors, pneumatic systems, robotic arms, and hydraulic systems in manufacturing environments to create a more complex system.
Introduction of factory automation is completely revolutionising the way businesses used to work by replacing human labour with machines to increase productivity, reduce human error and production cost, improve product quality and create a safe working environment.
Factory automation is quickly becoming a norm in the modern manufacturing landscape. From 3D printing to artificial intelligence, the advent of new technologies is driving the emergence of Industry 4.0 – the next industrial revolution. From robotic process automation (RPA) to the Internet of Things (IoT), the possibilities are seemingly endless.
With the integration of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning and other advanced technologies, factory automation has become easy to implement and is creating opportunities for businesses to stay competitive. From predictive maintenance and better decision-making to improved process control and monitoring, Industry 4.0 technologies are transforming the way manufacturers operate.
The important element of these technologies is their ability to integrate data across different production systems. This integration allows factories to access real-time data on performance metrics such as output, quality, energy consumption, and safety. By providing valuable insights into production systems, manufacturers can use this data to optimise their processes and increase efficiency.
As per the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development1, utilising energy sensors, Industry 4.0 was able to save over US$ 200,000 in annual energy costs by cutting the power usage in one of the plants of a multinational plastic company by almost 40%.
Industry 4.0 also offers increased flexibility, allowing factories to respond quickly to changing market demands. With the ability to reconfigure production lines quickly and easily, manufacturers can easily adapt to new product requirements. Additionally, by integrating production processes with digital twins, which replicate physical systems in a virtual environment, manufacturers can reduce downtime and improve overall efficiency.
Overall, the adoption of factory automation is leading to increased operational efficiency, improved decision-making, better customer service, and low costs for factories around the world.
“The sole motive behind the increasing adoption of factory automation is to enhance production efficiency, reduce labour requirement and costs, and improve workplace safety,” says a lead analyst at Fact.MR, a leading market research firm.
Inclination towards Lights Out Manufacturing
Factory automation is significantly influencing manufacturing but a novel model wherein all tasks will be performed by programmed machines, even when the lights are off, may bring the era of ‘lights out manufacturing’. In dark factories, programmed machines and robots can work 24/7, so there won’t be any delays, no product quality issues, and no labour disputes.
Dark factories or lights out manufacturing is especially gaining momentum across countries such as China, Japan, and the United States. For instance, FANUC, a Japanese robotic business FANUC uses a dark factory model. Since 2001, the company has been making robots with the help of robots.
In China, the Changying Precision Technology Company is considered the first company to use a dark factory model. Initially, the company had 650 workers while today it only needs 60, all thanks to factory automation and dark factory model. The only human workers left are there simply to ensure everything runs smoothly.
The unmanned factory of Changying Precision Technology Company is run almost entirely by robots which have significantly reduced defects and improved production rate. Hence, rapid shift towards dark factories or inclination towards lights out manufacturing will generate lucrative revenue-generation opportunities for factory automation companies during the next decade.
North America remains a dominant market
Based on region, North America is likely to retain its dominance in the global factory automation market during the forthcoming period owing to the rapid expansion of the manufacturing sector across the USA and rising adoption of automation and robotics across several industries.
Manufacturing sector has become an essential pillar of the United States economy. The country is home to some of the leading manufacturing firms that are constantly employing advanced technologies to improve their productivity.
As per the National Institute of Standards and Technology2 (NIST), manufacturing contributed around US$ 2.3 trillion to the country’s GDP in 2021. This robust expansion of the manufacturing industry coupled with rising focus on improving production efficiency is helping the factory automation market to thrive rapidly across North America.
However, with rapid industrial growth, increasing penetration of automation and robotics, and growing popularity of dark factories, Asia Pacific, spearheaded by China, Japan, and India is expected to take the spotlight and become the most lucrative market for factory automation during the next decade.
According to Oxford Economics3, robots are likely to replace around 20 million jobs by 2030, with nearly 14 million in China alone. This will create lucrative growth opportunities for factory automation manufacturers.
Interoperability – Eureka for manufacturing and industrial sectors
Factory automation and Industry 4.0 rely on interconnected technologies and systems to work together. Interoperability is the ability of these different systems to seamlessly share data and interact with each other, enabling factory automation processes to become efficient and cost-effective. This ultimately allows businesses to remain competitive in their respective markets. Additionally, interoperability allows for better communication between machines and people, creating a smart and safe working environment. Ultimately, this enables companies to take full advantage of their resources and create a profitable business model.
Factory automation is also reliant on connectivity. This includes connecting devices such as sensors, controllers, and other machines, as well as connecting systems such as databases, storage, and networks. Interoperability among all these components leads to improved production processes and efficiency gains.
Connectivity allows data to be shared and exchanged quickly between machines and systems, allowing factories to better understand performance and make changes in real-time. Connectivity allows for remote access and control, enabling factories to operate from anywhere at any time.
Reboot with factory automation
The automotive industry is one of the leading sectors excessively using factory automation technologies. Automation technologies such as robotics and automated material handling systems have paved the way in the automotive industry for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, there are also challenges with automating processes in the automotive industry.
For instance, robotics and automated systems require significant capital investments, and interoperability can be difficult to achieve. Furthermore, there can be safety concerns with integrating robots into production lines. Despite these challenges, factory automation has enabled the automotive industry to significantly increase productivity and reduce costs.
Material handling robots are particularly useful for industrial automation due to their ability to reduce human effort and provide better accuracy. They can be programmed to perform complex movements and tasks such as lifting, carrying, and sorting objects with precision. Moreover, they are also capable of learning new skills over time, allowing them to be used in advanced scenarios.
These robots have enabled manufacturers to reduce labour costs and increase production throughput. With the right material handling robot system, factories can reduce the amount of time required for product assembly and improve the overall quality of their products. They can help to reduce workplace accidents by reducing the need for human workers to be around dangerous machinery.
The use of material handling robots has also allowed businesses to become flexible and responsive to customer needs. These robots can be easily adapted to different production environments, allowing them to quickly switch between tasks or operations as needed. As a result, companies can respond faster to changing customer demands and requirements.
Increasing demand for material handling robots is expected to grow even further in the future as industries start to adopt them for their operations. As per Fact.MR4, the material handling robot system market size is slated to reach US$ 5,542.0 million by 2023.
Total material handling robot sales are set to accelerate at 8.6% CAGR between 2023 and 2033, totaling a market valuation of US$ 12,646.3 million by 2033.
With their advanced capabilities and cost-effectiveness, these robots are quickly becoming an essential part of factory automation. Companies that are looking to increase their efficiency and improve their bottom line should certainly consider investing in a material handling robot system.
A double-edged sword?
There is no doubt that factory automation is the inevitable future of industries. However, just like the two sides of the coin, factory automation has its pros and cons. Factory automation helps businesses to improve productivity and quality, reduce errors, save costs, and enhance worker safety.
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in workplace accidents across the world. For instance, every year around 2.3 million men and women die due to work-related accidents or diseases while about 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses occur annually as per the International Labour Organisation5 (ILO).
Adoption of factory automation could significantly reduce workplace accidents by decreasing risks associated with laborious and dangerous work faced by human workers. Companies are rapidly embracing factory automation not only to improve productivity or reduce costs but also to reduce workplace accidents.
Factory automation has made it possible for companies to eliminate the need for using workers in extreme environments such as nuclear element extraction and processing processes. They can simply use machines and robotic arms to do these risky tasks with ease.
On the other hand, adoption of a high degree of factory automation can result in job loss. Many companies such as Amazon are aiming to adopt a dark factory model to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. Hence, a large portion of the workers’ population is at risk of losing their jobs.
As per a report published in the World Economic Forum6, 1/3rd of all jobs could be at risk of automation in the next decade. This may result in rise in cases of anxiety, depression, and even suicides. Most of the people affected will be those with low educational attainment.
However, many analysts believe that more jobs would be created over the next few years than lost by automation. But most of those jobs will be suitable for higher qualified or educated people,
The way forward
The future of factory automation looks bright, as advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence and IoT, will continue to improve efficiency and drive down costs. Automation is expected to play a greater role in factories, with robots replacing humans for labour-intensive tasks such as sorting, packing, and inspection.
As per the World Economic Forum study, it is anticipated that by 2025, 10-15% of occupations across three industries (manufacturing, transportation and storage, and wholesale and retail commerce) will be highly automatable.
Additionally, predictive analytics and big data will provide real-time insights into production processes, enabling smarter decisions to be made. Connectivity is also expected to play a major role, connecting machines, products, and workers across the entire production line, creating an interconnected ecosystem where all components can communicate with each other.
Finally, the growing popularity of dark factories will throw new light into the factory automation market. Leading factory automation manufacturing will look to take advantage by introducing advanced technologies with innovative features, establishing new production facilities across several regions, and adopting merger and acquisition strategy.
Shubham Patidar is an experienced research consultant at Fact.MR. He is a Client Partner at Fact.MR, with a proven experience in market research & consulting industry and has been closely working on technology verticals.
References
1. https://unctad.org/news/blog-what-industry-40-and-what-will-it-mean-developing-countries
2. https://www.nist.gov/el/applied-economics-office/manufacturing/manufacturing-industry-statistics
3. https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/how-robots-change-the-world/
4. https://www.factmr.com/report/material-handling-robot-market
5. https://www.ilo.org/moscow/areas-of-work/occupational-safety-and-health/WCMS_249278/lang--en/index.htm
6. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/short-history-jobs-automation/
