FEATURE Robotics
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Yesterday’s innovations teach us robots will not replace us
Yesterday’s innovations teach us robots will not replace us
As we all very well know necessity is the mother of invention and innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, writes Stephan Pottel, Manufacturing Practice Lead, EMEA, Zebra Technologies
T
oday’s everyday technologies like computers, cars, even the telephone – and every tech innovation in between – were
made to make life easier, but all were also transformational “disruptors”, creating new industries, segments and jobs. Looking back, it’s clear that technologies create jobs. Take the web or user experience (UX) design profession, for example. It simply didn’t exist until personal and business computers upended the graphic design industry with the advent of art, design and publishing software, which eventually evolved into what we now know as UX or human- centred design, sparking new industries, jobs and careers along the way. As Steve Jobs of Apple, one the world’s biggest tech transformers said: “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.”
Like many of these much-loved tech transformers we depend on daily, robotics is also likely to expand and create a whole host of new services, industries and opportunities that most of us can’t quite imagine now. The World Economic Forum estimates that 97 million new roles (12 million net new) related to work between humans, robots and algorithms will emerge by 2025. And people will be needed to create, program, maintain and repair the robots
32 July/August 2023 | Automation
that augment work for people. Robotics will free people from the “dull, dirty and dangerous tasks that most people
Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Research backs him up: Among decision makers surveyed in Zebra’s Warehouse Vision Study, eight in ten say a greater reliance on automation is in their future. Most associates who work alongside autonomous mobile robots increase productivity, reduce walking/ travel time (83%), reduce errors (73%), and enable advancement to new roles were highlighted in a separate global study.
The labour shortage is real. Its impact across industries, including manufacturing, retail and warehousing, is prompting leaders to advance their adoption of technology, particularly automation. Of the surveyed warehouse decision makers who have already implemented automation or plan to within three years, 66% say they are doing Retailers surveyed in Zebra’s Global Shopper Study said investing in automation is a top priority, with 92% prioritising deployment of robots and automation solutions by 2027.
New jobs of the future So, what are some of these new, future jobs that robotics automation could spur? We are seeing robotics learning and development managers, specialist cleaning and sanitisation services for robots, and perhaps a new generation of architects and builders who design workplaces with a ‘human + robots’ approach, and a lot more: • Robotic and automation technicians who maintain the machines or use them for new tasks. • Electromechanical, mechatronics
and robotics technicians to perform tasks such as testing, operating, installing, maintaining and repairing robots and/ or machinery and computer-controlled mechanical systems, generally in an industrial setting. • Clinical robot associates working • Robotics data analysts handling large make decisions, create business predictions and trends, and feed analysis back into robotics automation solutions to optimise performance.
And the list goes on... CONTACT:
Zebra Technologies
www.zebra.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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