Machinery The ‘Good work charter’ of EUnited’s European robotics industry
1. Working like humans, not machines: Using robots to perform dull, dirty dangerous or delicate tasks, allowing people to undertake work more suited to human nature.
2. Humans in command: Ensuring robots assist humans, not the other way around. 3. Development of skills: Closing the skills gap that has grown as a result of the pace of technological change.
4. Inspire young people for STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]: Leveraging interesting robotics technologies to inspire young people to pursue the study of STEM subjects.
5. Inclusion and participation: Ensuring robotics promotes inclusion, not exclusion. 6. Creating opportunities: Using robotics to encourage workers to take active roles and perform more advanced tasks.
7. Human-robot collaboration and fusion skills: Maximising the complementary strengths of people and machines to generate vastly improved results.
8. Ease of use: Prioritising the simplification of robots to improve accessibility and lower barriers to entry.
9. Sustainability: Using robotics to make decisive contributions to sustainable consumption of energy and natural resources, and move towards a carbon neutral economy.
10. Tackling demographic change: Addressing possible labour shortages by increasing the use of automated and robotic technologies.
Source: EUnited
Sustainability is often defined as ensuring longevity for future generations, neatly summarising the pressing needs of societies and economies globally. The UN, through its 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals, is the primary engine driving change to establish a better and more sustainable future for all. For EUnited and its ‘Good work charter’, automation and robotics have a fundamental role to play in helping to achieve these goals. Focus nine of the charter – aptly named ‘Sustainability’ – hones in on the use of intelligent automated production processes to minimise the global consumption of energy and natural resources, and a move towards a carbon neutral economy.
“By region, Europe has the highest level of robot density worldwide, but the UK is lagging.”
91 IFR 10
Per 10,000 employees, the number of industrial robots the UK has, which is 22nd in the world.
There is no getting away from the fact that, traditionally, the packaging industry has been a sector contributing to adverse environmental affects because of the widespread use of non- recyclable materials and the carbon-intense life cycles of some plastics. Yet early adopters of automation, robotics and many associated Industry 4.0 technologies are helping to change these negative perceptions by prioritising both people and planet in their processes. The deployment of automated processes has helped to reduce the cost of making environmentally friendly products and improved resource efficiency in production processes themselves, reducing energy consumption and the creation of by-products. “The robotics industry strives to further reduce the energy consumption of robots,” EUnited’s
ambitious charter reads, “by using energy efficient drives, smart standby modes and software to intelligently manage robot movements (for example, slowing the movement down when a faster movement is not needed). “Flexible and easy-to-use robotic systems facilitate the competitive production of smaller batch sizes and products customised to the local customer base. This paves the way for producing goods close to the customer, thus reducing long- distance transport. Such local production has a substantially lower carbon footprint.” If integrated properly, logically and effectively, automated processes can, therefore, not only help to grow workplace-related ambitions, but, equally, environmental aspirations for a cleaner and greener future.
Britain last
The case on both fronts for an automation-centric industrial transition is clear. The extent to which this has already been realised, however, varies depending on where you’re looking. Research from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), released January 2021, provides a good indication of different levels of adoption in key global economies. According to the data, Singapore has positioned itself as the leading light of automation in production processes, with 918 industrial robots having been deployed for manufacturing processes per 10,000 employees. South Korea (868 units per 10,000 employees), Japan (364 units) and Germany (346 units) round out the top four in this ranking, doing so thanks to a combination of local industry requirements and a commitment to advancing industrialisation. The UK is ranked 22nd, with just 91 robots installed per 10,000 employees – less than the global average of 113 units.
By region, Europe has the highest level of robot density worldwide, but the UK is lagging. And if it continues to do so, it will reap fewer rewards and find it increasingly difficult to compete as robot adoption becomes key for driving productivity. Why is this? According to Automatica’s 2020 trend index, which surveyed employees representing 1,000 different organisations, it is not for a lack of desire or willingness to change. Within the survey, 68% of respondents said that the use of robots is essential for the competitiveness of the UK’s economy, and 65% expressed a need to improve education for working with robots, and for such skills to be promoted as a top priority by policymakers in government. Whatever the reason, it is vital that this materialises, in the packaging industry or elsewhere. ●
Packaging & Converting Intelligence /
www.pci-mag.com
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