Robotics: Coming to a Shop Near You

Spring is a time for renewal and a traditional time for cleaning. It’s a 5S kind of time. Yes, spring is a time to sort, set in place, shine, standardize, and sustain.

Cleaning the shop might not be the most challenging work, but it’s important for both safety and productivity. By looking at your shop floor through a lean lens, you may even discover new, unutilized space. And that means more machines, and who doesn’t love that?

It’s the way the industry is trending, too.

In 2014, the value of U.S. manufacturing technology orders was 3.1 percent higher than the 2013 totals, according to AMT–The Association for Manufacturing Technology. Closer to home, a report by the Canadian Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (CMTDA) also shows an increase in spending during the first three quarters of 2014, when compared to the 2013 numbers.

According to a report from the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and AMT, 2014 closed with an overall growth in the cutting tool industry of 5 percent year-over-year. These totals typically represent about 80 percent of the U.S. market for cutting tools, so the growth may even be higher.

Simply put: Manufacturers need equipment, and they are placing orders. If a shop lags behind, the technology gap with the competition—both domestic and international— widens.

No matter what type of equipment is being purchased, or what type of parts are being produced, some common themes are beginning to show, with none making a bigger splash than automation.

A report by Boston Consulting group predicts that the new class of cheaper, better robots will cut labor costs at Canadian factories by 24 percent over the next 10 years by replacing human workers at a faster pace than is currently seen.

This outpaces the global labor savings, which are expected to be reduced by 16 percent.

The rise of robotics usage will not only happen in Canada, the U.S., and other jurisdictions with aging, highcost labor either. According to the report, even China with its low wages will adopt more robot usage to reduce labor cost.

Boston Consulting expects that manufacturers will “no longer simply chase cheap labor,” but, at the same time, factories around the world will employ fewer—but more highly skilled—people. This need for highly skilled labor could be the bait that lures manufacturers back to Canada from overseas.

Automation of any kind will change the culture of a shop. The ability to run in a totally lights-out manner also depends on the reliability of the automation. And, while every automation installation is different, they are no longer limited to applications with extremely large lot sizes.

Automation on newly purchased equipment and as a retrofit will push Canadian productivity to new levels in 2015 and beyond. Are you ready?