FEATURE SMART FACTORIES MARKING THE MAP:
Why robots are the compass on the journey towards smart manufacturing
They can’t be blamed for feeling overwhelmed and wondering ‘where do I start?’ Especially when the Global Pricing and Sales Study recently revealed that only 25 per cent of global businesses that have invested in digitalisation have achieved success. A more effective beginning can be made by simply becoming more educated about digital technologies. With research it will become apparent that there are robot solutions ideally suited to a range of applications, from food, beverage and pharmaceuticals to plastics and metals.”
As productivity gains become the collective goal for UK manufacturing, we speak to ABB to examine the most effective way to begin the journey towards smart factory automation
I
magine if there was a way for the UK’s productivity to go from its current stagnant state to world-class in under five years. Imagine if our factories could produce goods quickly, efficiently and with minimal waste and be able to respond to changes in customer demands with minimal disruption. Imagine if we had a highly skilled, adaptable workforce using the latest cutting-edge technology. You may be surprised to know that robotic automation can make all of this absolutely achievable, provided we make the changes now to make it happen. Evidence for this includes the findings of a study of automation, labour productivity and employment by Copenhagen Business School. This found that if the UK were to become as automated as the world’s most automated countries, which include Japan, Germany and Sweden, productivity would increase by 22.3 per cent. Not only that, but the improvements it would bring would help to yield a projected increase in employment of at least 7.4 per cent as new jobs are created to keep pace. Not only this, but with the world on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and many countries, including China, already adopting advanced production technologies, the UK’s ability to compete means we must quickly find ways to become more productive.
20 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT
THE CHALLENGES AHEAD In the International Federation of Robotics’ (IFR) World Robotics report 2017, the UK ranked fifteenth compared to other European countries with 71 robots per 10,000 employees. Compare this with a country like Germany, which has 309 robots per 10,000 employees, and the potential impact of continuing to lag behind becomes clear. The problem is that most UK companies
lack the time, experience or technical skills needed to implement automation. Despite the proven ability of robots to deliver benefits such as increased output, higher quality and lower wastage, many businesses still tend to view them as tools for mass production processes, with little or no idea about how they could be integrated into their own processes. Mike Wilson, ABB business development
manager for robotics in the UK and Ireland, explains: “Much talk of a solution has been centred on smart manufacturing. Theories include that the more digitally connected the equipment, the more data can be analysed with improvements to productivity as a direct result. “I agree that smart manufacturing should be the ultimate goal but a completely automated and digital shop floor is a difficult concept for most UK manufacturers to get their heads around.
/ FACTORYEQUIPMENT
Virtual reality headset programming
FOLLOWING THE LEADERS A great way for UK manufacturers to learn is from each other. A good example is Castings PLC. A UK metals casting manufacturer, it adopted 13 ABB Flexloader robotic machine tending cells to transform its productivity (pictured left). Programming a total of 300 parts so far, Castings aims to have 2,500 parts programmed by the end of the project. Changeover can be performed in as little as 10 minutes, giving the company the flexibility to handle a wide variety of batch runs. Production output has also increased by 50 per cent with a 50 per cent reduction in cycle times. Another UK manufacturer that boosted productivity with robots is personalised confectionery manufacturer, Boomf, which has grown by 600 per cent as a result of improvements delivered by robotic automation. The company enables its customers to print their choice of photos, graphics and messages on to marshmallows as an alternative to flowers, chocolates or cards. Significant delays were occurring at the cutting stage as the expectation of high quality meant that each product needed to be carefully cut manually into 40mm by 40mm squares. After every five or six cuts the blade would need to be cleaned. This took five minutes in total. After systems integrator, Newtech, introduced an ABB 1200 robot with
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