Industrial Automation Magazine India

Robots today are far more advanced than their predecessors

Published on : Thursday 07-04-2022

Subrata Karmakar, President – Head of Robotics & Discrete Automation, ABB India Ltd.
 

What are the present trends in robotic automation in India?
Robots are changing the world around us for the better. Owing to their efficiency, and advantage of working as tools that help in minimising hazards, reducing operating costs, and improving product quality, robotic automation is becoming integral to production processes across sectors. In India, the application of industrial robotics has led to major changes, revolutionising both the industry and service sectors.
 
While productivity and quality improvements remain important, two new requirements are becoming increasingly important: flexibility of operations and simplicity from design to installation, to operation and maintenance. This is because of four mega-trends:
 
1. Individualised consumers: Product variants are expanding; lifecycles are becoming shorter, and consumers are requesting more personalisation. All of us want a product of our choice (colour; type, etc.), and we want it now! This demand is changing the world! Small batch size needs more flexible automation and needs a very disciplined logistic system to provide quick delivery.
 
2. Labour shortage: The workforce is shrinking, and fewer people are willing to perform ‘dull, dirty and dangerous’ jobs. Majority of the people want to work in Research & Development, rather than performing repetitive work on the shopfloor.
 
3. Digitalisation: Manufacturing is increasingly powered by machine learning, and AI is enabling new digital solutions to help improve operations and efficiency.
 
4. Uncertainty: Even before the pandemic, trade conflicts, political uncertainty and natural disasters all impacted manufacturers globally – necessitating flexibility in processes and operational assets. Customers want freedom from all the uncertainty. If demand goes up, I should be able to produce, and if demand goes down, I should be flexible enough to try something new!
 
Which industry segments are driving the demand? What are the constraints?

As observed over the past few years, the best robotics company is the one that is most successful in the automotive industries. However, at present, technological solutions have become more popular in other sectors as well. Numerous companies are looking for ways to implement robotics and automation. 
 
Growing opportunities are seen in medical and pharmaceutical applications, F&B, and e-commerce, which have been thriving post-Covid. Because of this, the market for service robots is expected to grow at a much higher rate than that of industrial robots. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that sales of logistical robots will reach 259,000 units by 2023. As a result, these industries will see some of the most cutting-edge applications in the coming year.
 
We strongly believe that the advancement of AI in numerous industries will further enhance traditional robotics programming across industries such as, Electronics, Healthcare, Automotive, F&B, Warehousing, etc.
 
The automotive industry is a major user of robots. How will the shift to electric mobility impact the use of robots?
The rise in robotics has made automotive plants extremely competitive in current times. Robots today are far more advanced than their predecessors. Furthermore, the number of industrial robots is on the rise due to the growing interest in building plants throughout the world.
 
Even though in India electric vehicles (EVs) account for only a small percentage of all vehicle sales today, the number of consumers adopting this technology has grown immensely. Despite this rising demand, the supply of EV batteries is a key bottleneck since this supply chain is relatively new and developing. With the automation of a robotic work cell, it will enable fast and reliable assembly of EV battery modules on a large scale, reducing this demand/supply gap.
 
The pandemic is believed to have spurred digitalisation and smart manufacturing, but are the trends reflected in sales?

Companies today are embracing digital technology aggressively, especially post the pandemic-induced changes that arose in the sector. Several industries aim to maximise the efficiency and productivity of supply chain and operations by leveraging advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. A connected enterprise enjoys several benefits, including the ability to guarantee business continuity, despite limitations to provide truly flexible workflow management in line with the 'new normal,' and to improve productivity by encouraging innovation. Besides increasing security and reducing downtime, it also significantly reduces maintenance costs.
 
Smart factories in India are in turn integrating technology, machines, and humans, resulting in connected systems that will shift India from traditional automation to digitalisation.
 
ABB India has taken various initiatives in offering robotic solutions in recent months. How has the industry responded to these?
With the increasing demand for automation, the penetration of robotics, especially in small and medium enterprises is still low in India compared to the global average. ABB's improved robotics facility has helped the company to share knowledge and encourage Indian manufacturers to adopt game-changing technologies to become best-in-class manufacturers in both local and global markets.
 
ABB’s Robotics is operating in India for over 25 years now, our state-of-the-art shop floor, R&D centre, Engineering Delivery Platform, sales & marketing teams, system integration to service support and remote monitoring services, have enabled us to grow in double digit and become the only multinational to provide the broadest portfolio amongst our peers. We are also the only player with a strong in-house robotics and automation portfolio. ABB is in an ideal position to provide our customers with flexible automation solutions, from individual machines to whole plants. We have a balanced portfolio of products, cells and solutions, systems, and services. We believe that integrated solutions like machine-centric robotics and digital services open new high growth applications. 
 
What is the range of ABB robots available to the Indian industry? What are the popular application areas?
ABB specialises in robotics applications and digital solutions for a range of Indian industries including automotive, healthcare, food & beverage, electronics, and other upcoming sectors.

ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation is a leading supplier of industrial robots – also providing robot software, peripheral equipment, modular manufacturing cells and service for tasks such as welding, handling, assembly, painting and finishing, picking, packing, palletising and machine tending and we see a growing demand for robotic automation in the automotive, plastics, metal fabrication, foundry, electronics, machine tools, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries as well as logistics and warehouse automation.
 
With internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles increasingly being replaced by electric vehicles, production lines are becoming faster and more adaptable. In addition to highly complex designs, EV components such as batteries and semiconductor modules can be heavy and fragile. To avoid costly production errors, solutions need to offer maximum precision and repeatability.
 
ABB has recently added two new robot families to its portfolio of large robots for complex manufacturing applications. The ABB IRB 5710 and 5720 robots combine enhanced speed, accuracy, flexibility and a more robust design with integrated process cabling, delivering increased productivity and uptime for applications such as, electric vehicle (EV) manufacture, foundry, forging, rubber, plastics, and metal fabrication.
 
A new emerging trend for robots in manufacturing is the evolution of autonomous mobile robots. Are these cost effective?
The adoption of automation can help countries with rising labour costs to stay competitive and continue to provide affordable goods to their end customers. Considering the rise in labour costs across the globe and with the impact of Covid-19, autonomous mobile robots have seen an increase in demand across all regions.
 
Customers want to automate to improve productivity and reliability, at the right price, while maintaining quality and reducing the waste generated. This equates to producing things more quickly, more flexibly, closer to consumers, and at a reasonable cost, with minimal wastage and maximum consistency. For SMEs, controlling costs and enhanced productivity are the two main growth drivers that help them create jobs and progress.
 
Automation can help a business reduce costs by improving quality and reducing wastage, through enhanced repeatability or via new innovations like the 3DQI quality inspection system. 
 
The cost of unplanned downtime is becoming more important due to shorter product life cycles, so automation and digital tools that help customers keep plants online, improve production line efficiency and performance, are all becoming more important. Additionally, digital tools that enable production teams to know exactly what is happening in their production line help in optimising processes and efficiencies, to make products more cost-effective.
 
What is the impact of Cobots, which have been around for over a decade now, on the overall robotic ecosystem?
Cobots allow cooperation between human workers and robots in an environment of safety. They work in a similar fashion to traditional industrial robots, consisting of a mechanical arm that can be programmed to execute tasks such as, material handling, assembly, processing, quality inspection, and packaging in a factory setting.
 
In contrast to industrial robots, cobots are smaller and more mobile. These robots are also simpler to program. All these factors are substantially benefitting small and large businesses in various manufacturing and flow shop processes.
 
The impact of collaborative robots is immense in the overall robotic ecosystem, given that this futuristic tech wonder works hand in hand with humans, balancing the imperative for safety with the need for flexibility and productivity. Using strong sensors and software, these bots can detect changes in their work environment in real time, allowing them to respond as needed while keeping people safe. The cobots are also designed for low payload applications such as handling small parts and inspection tasks, facilitating best-in-class safety and close collaboration with humans.