Trends to disrupt robotic automation in 2022

The pandemic accelerated far-reaching global mega trends from labor shortages and supply chain uncertainty, to the individualized consumer and growing pressure to operate sustainably and resiliently – leading new businesses to look to robotic automation. As technology opens new opportunities for meeting customer demands, new trends will continue to emerge that will further drive demand in areas where robots have traditionally not been used.

With demand for robots growing as companies in multiple sectors look for new ways to enhance their productivity and competitiveness post-pandemic and acceleration continues for robots in new sectors like logistics and retail, and speeds up for EV production. With many countries restricting and phasing out the production of combustion engine vehicles over the next decade, the race towards electric cars has accelerated.

Manufacturers and their supply chains must tackle the complexity of diversifying into EVs alongside combustion-engine vehicles, to meet varying regulatory frameworks governing EV adoption across the globe. The speed and added flexibility needed will see new and established manufacturers move away from traditional linear manufacturing, towards modular, flexible production.

Secondly, the E-commerce boom will accelerate, Consumer behavior and expectations are driving companies to find new ways to satisfy demand, developing new channels through omnichannel retailing and adapting their production lines and distribution processes to enable personalization of both products and delivery.

Fulfilling these requirements has seen thousands of robots installed worldwide where they were not used just five years ago, and this rapid rate of automation will continue in 2022 driven by a combination of consumer trends and a growing shortage of labor.

Going forward, more robots will appear in more places – and workers will need new skills. Smaller, more affordable, and easy-to-use robots, are helping to remove many of the barriers previously preventing companies from investing in robots. This is seeing an acceleration of robots in general industry and small and medium-sized enterprises as companies seek new ways to automate different tasks.

ABB survey says, as we look beyond 2022, we see an ever-greater emphasis on connectivity and data acquisition as key enablers of future manufacturing. Data collected from intelligently automated processes will be analyzed by producers to make more informed decisions.

At the same time, more advanced and responsive simulation and programming software tools, will cover the entire life cycle of robotic applications – from commissioning to onstream productivity – using AR and VR tools to simplify automation for customers. Flexibility is essential as it is a strategic need, essential across the entire value chain.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA