FEATURE Robotics
Robot in the (ware)house Q&A with Joe Daft, Head of Robotics at Wise Robotics W
ise Robotics is a supplier of fl exible, scaleable, warehouse automated solutions. Joe Daft, its
Head of Robotics, discusses the challenges facing the industry, how to encourage more companies to adopt the benefi ts of automation and how to bridge the current skills gap.
Q: Do you find that some UK manufacturers are still reluctant to automate? We fi nd that the current most common challenges are labour and stock shortages, rising costs and achieving faster time to market, many of which infl uence and aff ect each other.
Automation can help resolve some of these problems, but many companies are yet to invest in it. Many are still questioning it, asking: “How can I save headcount?” instead of “How can I use it to do the job?” Generally, European and UK companies haven’t looked to China and Asia where new things are happening. For Asian companies it’s not so much about return on investment as it is about partnerships: who can they work with to make things happen.
Many companies also lack robust plans and policies that will help them deal with big events such as pandemics, major economic and political changes, supply chain disruptions, etc., and neither do they have IT departments in place to make changes.
Logistics companies need to set a budget for automation – not having one means they are already behind. There’s also a need for a good management structure in place to drive automation projects – this should come from the top.
Overall, the warehousing industry is only just starting to wake up to automation. This is most probably because there remains a distinct lack of understanding about how to deliver these projects, caused by lack of staff with the right experience. There is now a greater desire to engage in discussions about automation, but companies are dealing
36 September 2022 | Automation
with the problems they’ve just had, not looking forward to the future enough – they need to decide and move much faster.
Q: How can some of these challenges be met? Ultimately, if we can improve robot uptake by SMEs in the UK, it will help both them and everyone else. At Wise Robotics we off er free consultancy services, for clients to ask questions and see demos. We fi nd that testing and proving robotics installations is a valuable way to show them what’s possible. We also need to help customers defi ne what success looks like and then work towards it. There needs to be a national vision or automation strategy, with initiatives and measures coming from the government. We also need to move away from the myths about automation; warehouse operators will tell you that automation has improved their job, not the other way around. We are heading towards the year of
the robot. Our primary target is the SME sector, although, ironically, some companies that are not embracing automation are large. They are hampered by issues such as not having basic data or ways of collecting it to automate, and little internal communication. Being more agile and able to react faster, the smaller players tend to have a more
open mind about automation and a clear understanding of their whole setup.
Q: What trends are you beginning to see in the manufacturing and engineering sectors? In general, one of the big trends is that collaborative technologies and sensors have made it much easier to get robots to work alongside people – but this requires a culture of change to encourage co-operation with robots, and educating companies and their staff about it. As with many sectors, lack of skills has been a growing trend. A lot must be done at the educational level to bring people into the sector who have the right knowledge and experience. This lack of skills will continue to be a problem. In the warehousing sector, very few people leave school with a desire to work in logistics and warehousing – schools don’t present this sector as a career. There needs to be more exposure to industry in schools. There is also a need for softer skills – a person might be academically inclined, but may not be able to work in a team. Skills need to be taught from the very start to help us overcome these shortages and get the people we need.
https://wiserobotics.com CONTACT:
Wise Robotics
“If we can improve robot uptake by SMEs in the UK, it will help both them and everyone else,” – Joe Daft, Head of Robotics, Wise Robotics
automationmagazine.co.uk
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