Science fiction factory automation has become a reality nowadays. Not so long ago, we could not conceive an industrial robotic workforce.In 2019, the revolution is unstoppable and it’s not only us saying it. GP. Bullhound, one of the Leading investment banking firms providing advice on mergers & acquisitions, capital raising and private placements in the technology sectors did recently public a report called “Smart Manufacturing. The rise of the machines”. In it, it lays down how automation has become transversal in all the manufacturing sectors, enhancing European SMEs to stay in an increasingly consolidated sector in the world of technology.
One of the most interesting aspects of the report is how the evolution of process automation, namely, the decrease in the cost of robot units. Between 2007 and 2014 it has decreased from $550,000 to $20,000 between 2007 and 2014 and for IoT devices, the decrease has been from $40,000 to $100 during these same years (GP. Bullhound, 2019).
In this sense, as the report states, this evolution is directly linked to two factors: the importance of data analysis and the need to have people prepared to work with machines. Thus, factories and the manufacturing industry generate 1.8 petabytes of data each year, twice as much as other sectors such as government (GP. Bullhound, 2019). It is important to note that today, intelligent data management is much simpler thanks to the development of other technologies as IoT or Cloud computing.
In the same way, it is critical to have a team of people who understand the current situation of the industry and how to work with robots in a broad sense. That is, that they know the importance of the data and work in collaboration with the robots. The human component will continue to be of key importance throughout the process and training will be much required. Without the proper adaptation of workers a country, of the size of Great Britain, could suffer a loss of up to 20 million jobs due to automation in the sector (Oxford Economics, 2019) say that by 2030. In fact, to date, according to The Guardian, nearly 1.7 million jobs have been lost since 2000. In Europe, close to 400,000; in the United States 260,000 and in China 550,000. The EU authorities in prevision of this are also providing access to training to try to allow SMEs to access a higher degree of training capacity.
It should also be specified that the loss of jobs is directly related to the most repetitive functions, and that, according to a study conducted by BCG, 70% of people surveyed prefer that the most repetitive and least interesting parts of their jobs be automated with artificial intelligence.
Finally, we must not lose sight of the need to orchestrate all these automated actions thanks to the new software programs as OPIL. It is necessary, therefore, to unite all the parts to understand the challenges of this automation.
This way, not only large corporations can access tools that speed up their work, but also medium and small businesses can work towards benefiting from the revolution, whilst minimizing the negative impact. In fact, as previously stated, EU institutions are very much concerned on achieving a significant balance in the development of these technologies, developing acceleration and supporting implementation projects, and democratizing the access to innovation providing equal competition conditions.
This way SMEs, thanks to initiatives as I4MS, ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs, manufacturing SMEs are supported in the use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their business operations and in the bigger picture can start affording it, enhancing the overall competitiveness of the EU industrial fabric.
if you want to know more, we invite you to take a look at the “Smart Manufacturing. The rise of the machines” report.
The Trends
Further, if you would have a need to boost your production capacity and profits through industry 4.0 automation. We also recommend you to take another look at the L4MS acceleration program for manufacturing SMEs. Starting in early September, it facilitates financial and technical resources to automate your floor factory logistics with funding, matchmaking with system integrators and mobile robots manufacturers. It would also provide consultancy services thru a technology expert to help your company adopting the latest logistics automation solutions, among other benefits.
If you’ve found this article interesting or part of a manufacturing company looking for funding and support opportunities to go digital, don’t hesitate to join the I4MS Community! The I4MS project is funded by the European Union and we offer support to small businesses related to the manufacturing sector and IoT technology.
