AUTOMATION While efforts to demystify vision technology


are important, an additional approach would be to incorporate an understanding of vision capabilities and how to use them as a part of the engineering skill set so that engineers of the future are ‘vision aware’. UKIVA members frequently report that it


is difficult to recruit new engineers into the industry with the right mix of vision knowledge and engineering skills despite the fact that there are many computer vision courses offered by UK universities. In an ideal world there would be a formal vision apprenticeship, run by an independent organisation that could provide an alternative route into the industry for those not pursuing a university education. Tese vision apprentices would emerge from their training equipped with the skills needed to progress into industry. Finding a way to establish, administer and fund such a scheme dedicated to vision, however, continues to be a major challenge. Some help is available through PPMA Best, an independent charitable trust, funded by the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association.


‘Te objectives of improving education and widening vision skills require greater investment in basic infrastructure’


PPMA Best seeks to encourage young


people to enter and develop a career in engineering in the processing, packaging, robotics, automation and industrial vision supply industries, through education, training and support. Some UKIVA members have used the resources offered by PPMA Best to introduce school students to vision technology as a potential career path, through Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) one-day workshops. Tese STEM days have been held with groups of Year 10 students at a number of schools and have been very well received, with many students expressing an interest in attending follow-up work experience placements.


In addition, a prime objective of UKIVA is to


promote the use of machine vision technology throughout industry and education.


Funding the dream Faced with the realities of Brexit and the post pandemic labour and skills shortages throughout industry, machine vision and automation can offer real-world solutions, but that requires investment. Help from the government is available until 31 March 2023 through the super-deduction scheme (www.gov.uk/guidance/super-deduction), designed to encourage firms to invest in productivity-enhancing plant and machinery assets that will help them grow. Tis scheme allows companies to cut their tax bill by up to 25p for every £1 they invest. Te wider objectives of improving education and widening vision skills require a much greater investment in basic infrastructure. O


Neil Sandhu and Allan Anderson are the UK Industrial Vision Association’s chair and vice chair respectively.


Report calls for support for automation adoption


Speeding up adoption of industrial automation and robotics can lead to dramatic improvements in productivity, according to a new report published by experts at the Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and the Industrial Policy Research Centre, Loughborough University. Robotics and Automation:


A New Perspective says that the slow uptake of robotics among British manufacturers, and a reluctance to invest in automation, has contributed to the country’s vanishingly small improvements in productivity in recent years. The report, with experts


from a wide range of fields contributing opinions and recommendations, calls for a renewed emphasis on the need to improve productivity through the use of automation, with manufacturers, research organisations, equipment suppliers and the UK government working together to help businesses improve their performance through the


intelligent use of automation. The report also stresses the importance of independent advice to new users, particularly in the SME supply chain. In the foreword to the


report, Dr Clive Hickman, chief executive of the MTC, said: ‘While the UK was traditionally a leader in world manufacturing, our productivity has been surpassed by other countries and, if ignored, this gap will continue to grow. It is necessary to address the opportunities available within manufacturing to get back on top form and make advances available for businesses across the UK.’ Mike Wilson, the MTC’s chief automation officer, said that the pandemic had exposed weaknesses in the UK’s extended supply chains leading to a recognition that there was a need to increase the resilience of UK manufacturing by increasing local content and reshoring production capacity. He said: ‘A significant


expansion of manufacturing capability cannot be


achieved using the current methodologies, which are largely based on manual labour and obsolete equipment. The Made Smarter Review identified that the application of automation and robotics in UK industry could contribute £183.6 billion over the next decade. The solutions are available and proven. The challenge in the UK is adoption, and also the education of the finance community so they understand and support investment.’ The report calls for more support for UK businesses to help them with adoption at every stage, from identifying opportunities, getting workforce buy-in, selecting suppliers, ensuring they have the right skills, and implementing solutions. It also calls for knowledge-sharing across industry and the automation supply chain in order to develop, demonstrate, test and de-risk affordable and deployable automation, targeting those UK manufacturers who have under- invested in the past.


Better training is also called


for, particularly short courses which don’t take key people out of the business for long periods of time. The report also calls for a specific emphasis on SMEs to adopt automation and robotics technology, possibly through an extension to the Made Smarter programme. It also recommends stronger networks, specifically for robots and automation, to encourage more cooperation and communication, to share knowledge and expertise, and to represent the sector to other parties, including the UK government.


The Manufacturing Technology Centre aims to provide a competitive environment to bridge the gap between university-based research and the development of manufacturing solutions. The report can be downloaded here: www.the-mtc.org/media/ bdba0ls0/automation-and- robotics-research-paper-a4- pages.pdf


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DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE 17


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