Are robots really a “thing” in manufacturing?

By Dave Brambert

President, Fifth Wave Manufacturing

If you were to ask managers and owners of manufacturing plants about the biggest problem they face, somewhere between 75 and 100 percent of them would say, “We still need people.” In the manufacturing field, the people drought has been the status quo since long before COVID’s unwelcome appearance.

Two years ago, Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute teamed up on a study that showed that the U.S. manufacturing arena is potentially headed for 2.1 unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2030, the cost of which could total about $1 trillion in that year alone.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cited over a million unfilled job openings in April 2022. While there is a lag time between opening and filling a job, the filling was happening at about half the rate of opening.

Slow or no application rates for manufacturing jobs has been a challenge for at least a decade. Owners’ answer to the question above has not changed since about 2010.

It seems that these numbers serve as the counter argument to anyone claiming, “The robots are coming to take our jobs.” If there are no people willing or able to do certain tasks, and robots can do it, you can be sure business owners will be buying them. A lot of them. And the popularity of cobots—which can work safely and quickly alongside human counterparts—makes the addition/transition more seamless than in the past.

What are these robots doing here?

Yes, there are a tremendous number of job openings. Yes, many of those jobs can be handled by robots. The fastest growing areas for robot integration at a manufacturing plant are material handling, parts removal, palletizing, and machine tending. Welding is another fast-grown application of robotics in manufacturing.

Let’s discuss welding for a moment. A few years ago, the American Welding Society quoted the average age of a welder at 57 years old. Something on the order of 300,000 welding jobs are open right now, and the number of people retiring is greater than the number of people entering the welding field.

The biggest problem? More welds are being made today then ever before, and there seems to be no end to the growth. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global welding market will grow from $20.23 billion in 2020 to $28.66 billion in 2028. Various estimates show compound annual growth rates between 4 and 6 percent.

It is clear: the answer to the biggest problem in welding is technology, and in this case that means robots. The robot industry summarizes the situation like this: we give robots the three D’s, jobs that are dull, dirty, and dangerous. Things like bomb disposal come to mind if you think in extreme terms, but what about welding? That activity is not dull, but it is dirty, and can be dangerous. Welding fumes? Not a concern for the robot. Making a perfect bead? For the robot, it’s no more effort than making an imperfect bead.

Repetitive tasks are some of the most robotized right now. Stacking parts, stacking boxes, moving materials around, palletizing—all those things are both dull and dangerous, at least over time. Many people doing those tasks eventually have back trouble, strains, and carpal tunnel problems. For the robot, it’s no big deal. Same thing tomorrow. The interesting thing about putting a cobot to work is that when they finish a task, they can move on to another one that is completely different, giving manufacturers flexibility that was missing before.

Robots are here to stay as long as manufacturing stays.

Fifth Wave Manufacturing covers the innovations both inside the equipment and outside the industry that are making inroads into today’s advanced manufacturing plants.

Author: Dave Brambert

Article source: https://article-realm.com/article/Business/47512-Are-robots-really-a-thing-in-manufacturing.html