Unmanned factories - almost, but not quite
Technical and economic changes, the digitalization of production, and automation at all levels of life also lead to changes in the workforce. Enterprises are increasingly buying robots and partially replacing staff with machines. Analysts have long promised a rapid reduction of factory workers due to robotization. Some industrial sites have already abandoned manual labor, replacing employees with machines. But for now, people are still there. Cobots - robots that cooperate with humans - are believed to be more likely to be the future. According to the International Federation of Robotics' statement, a new record was set in 2021 - 3 million industrial robots were already working in factories around the world, 10% more than a year ago. Asia is the world's largest market for industrial robots: 71% of all robots purchased in 2020 are installed there, with China accounting for the majority - 168,400 units, 20% more than last year. It is the most units ever recorded for a single country. Meanwhile, a total of 943,223 robots are already operating in China, so the 1 million mark was already crossed in 2021. The second-largest market for industrial robots after China is Japan. However, the Japanese economy has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with sales down 23% in 2020 and only 38,653 robots installed, but Japan's robotics market is expected to grow by 5% in 2022. The USA is the largest user of industrial robots and the third in the world. Overall expectations for the North American market are very positive. Industrial robotic installations are now seeing a return to pre-recession levels. In 2021, the number of automated facilities grew by almost +17%. The Republic of Korea has become the fourth largest robot market in annual installations after Japan, China, and the United States. Korea has the world's highest level of robotization in the electronics and automotive industries, with 932 robots per 10,000 people (by comparison, Singapore, which ranks second in this indicator, has only 605 robots per 10,000 people, and Japan has 390). The main areas where industrial robots are used are still the electronics and automotive industries. The industry-wide milestone of 500,000 industrial robots installed worldwide per year will be reached as early as 2024. As early as 2030, 20 million jobs worldwide will be replaced by robots, say Oxford Economics analysts. Since 2000, 1.7 million jobs have already been cut thanks to robots: 400 thousand in Europe, 260 thousand in the US, and 550 thousand in China. According to statistics, one robot cuts up to 1.6 jobs. Analysts believe that robotization will affect regions where the use of unskilled labor prevails.
What is a comprehensive automation
As the volume of production increases, in any sphere, the natural solution becomes process automation. This process involves introducing new technologies, equipment, and appropriate software. Whereas earlier, in almost all phases, production was done manually, now many operations are performed by machines, robots, and with the help of computer-aided design systems. Automation can be applied to individual production processes as well as to their totality. Comprehensive production automation is being introduced to increase efficiency and profitability and save financial and time resources. Comprehensive production automation is a type of industrial automation in which all stages of the production process, including transportation and quality control of products, are carried out with the help of special equipment, controlled utilizing programs and modes, united by a common control system. Complex automation includes almost all stages of preparation and realization of products: design, control of machine equipment during production, collection and distribution of information, palletizing, shipment, and accounting. Replacing humans with robots will facilitate the introduction of automated processes at a minimal cost. Eventually, factories will reduce the number of employees to a minimum, if not create a manless production. Professions associated with empathy and creativity will "last" longer than others. Although a robot has already painted a picture that went on auction for $432,5 thousand, the demand for intelligent and qualified specialists will grow in the background of the replacement of people by robots.
Enterprise Automation Goals
The goals of modernizing production processes that can be achieved through automation are:
- Rapid adaptation of production to the changes made,
- Increase in the quality of products,
- reduction of production costs,
- higher production capacity,
- a faster launch of products on the market,
- improved safety and ergonomics factors.
The main types of automation are the scope of their application
Hardware-software complexes
Hardware-software complexes are the system of hardware and software solutions working in parallel to complete one or more homogeneous tasks. Due to the introduction of such complexes, owners of businesses in any field can improve efficiency and profitability of production and reduce the volume of circulating assets. Often the administration of the device can be done with any Internet browser, which minimizes the cost of maintenance. Such complexes are equipped with performance monitoring, which allows for automatic restoration of functionality in case of errors. Optimized software helps production processes start up as quickly as possible. Examples of software and hardware complexes include automated workstations, video analysis, video surveillance, and access control systems.
Automated production lines
Automated production lines are used for mass production of products, which require multi-step processing. The production line consists of geographically distributed workstations in a factory connected by a mechanized work transport system that delivers parts from one workstation to another in a predetermined sequence. The operation of the lines takes place mainly without operator intervention. The adjuster's job is to periodically control the operation of the equipment, load the workpieces at the beginning of the line and remove them at the end of the line. Thanks to the use of automated lines, a high level of economy in production are achieved: the number of workers and machines is minimized, and the production area is reduced. In addition, automated lines improve part quality and production stability.
Robotics in automation
Robotics as a method of production automation is becoming increasingly popular. It is a significant part of comprehensive automation. It is often assumed that the introduction of robotics is specific to large-scale production, but this is a misconception. Small enterprises also favor industrial robots, guided by the many advantages of such equipment. Among the main benefits are a short payback period, reduction of production costs, in the long run, minimization of human factor and reject rate, guarantee of the quality of performed operations, increased workability and production speed, programmability, and easy reconfiguration. Today, most robots are applied in manufacturing operations, divided into three categories: loading/unloading, machining operations, assembly, and inspection. The first category includes transporting and loading/unloading materials onto a conveyor or machine. In transportation, robots' task is to move parts from one location to another. Other operations are more complex, such as placing pieces on pallets in an order calculated by the robot itself. For loading/unloading materials, a robot equipped with a unique gripper is used. In automated machining operations, the robot controls a specific tool, for example, in spot welding and painting. Spot welding car bodies is one of the most common applications of industrial robots in the United States. Other operations in this category include sanding, polishing, and routing. Today, industrial robots are used in various applications, such as medicine, food, automotive, metalworking, optical equipment, and many others.
Inhuman campaigns
The automotive industry is the largest robotics segment. In addition, the food, plastics, and chemical industries are showing rapid growth. Businesses in developed countries are not only replacing humans with robots but are also building halls or warehouses in which humans have no place.
Amazon saves $22 million annually thanks to robots. More than 100 thousand robots are working at the retailer's sites. The company plans to send 100 thousand employees for training courses by 2025, having spent $700 million on it.
At the Philips plant in Drachten, the Netherlands, 128 robots produce electric shavers in workshops without lighting. Before setting up the factory, the company made top-quality shavers. Therefore, manual labor was kept to a minimum in the factory.
The company was faced with the need to quickly change the models of the produced shavers. The company's portfolio includes 60 lines of devices and 600 models. The factory can switch from one model to another in hours without people.
The company doesn't know what the shavers will look like in ten years, but it chose equipment that can be reconfigured to new models at a minimal cost. The razor consists of three main components assembled on independent lines. The assembly system is modular, with each cell disconnected and connected without stopping production. Nine people monitor the output quality.
The Audi plant in Ingolstadt (Germany) stamps up to 2.5 thousand cars daily. The assembly shop works without lights but is equipped with motion sensors. The light switches on as soon as someone enters the shop. The 800 precision welding robots continuously perform their work in seconds.
The uniqueness of the factory is in the production of machines to order. If the customer wants a sunroof, a steering wheel on the left side, or bright colors, the robots consider every whim. A particular module is applied to manage the orders.
Previously, thousands of precision welds were made by welders. Automation made it possible to reduce the number of personnel and, at the same time, increase the quality level. Live employees were left on the final assembly line and in the finishing shop, where the vehicle's interior is installed.
At Changying Precision Technology Company's cell phone factory in Dongguan (China), robots have replaced almost all humans. Sixty robotic arms produce smartphone components on ten assembly lines nonstop every day. One robot arm replaces the labor of 6-8 employees. The company plans to grow the number of robots to a thousand.
The lines are equipped with an automated conveyor, the work of which is controlled by three people. Monitoring is conducted remotely. Improvement of robots made it possible to reduce the number of defects from 25% to 5%. The increase in productivity was 250%.
In 2012, L'Oréal (France) automated the blister packaging line at its factory in Somerset, England.
For several years, blister packaging at the factory was done manually because not many products were packaged this way. The main disadvantages of manual packaging are cost, low safety, and low efficiency. L'Oréal needed robots to meet the required speed, reliability, and ease of use standards.
The introduction of robots met the high demand for the products, meeting the productivity, labor, cost, and efficiency requirements envisioned at the start of the project.
The Dutch company MQ Statieven has automated its production line. MQ Statieven produces tripods for industry, earthworks, construction, and railroads. To automate processes, they chose a collaborative robot designed for heavy-duty operation. The robot is capable of lifting parts weighing up to twelve kilograms.
At MQ Statieven, the robot is used exclusively to load the machine. The system picks up the raw material, takes the machined material from the chuck, places the raw material in its place, and places the machined material on the conveyor belt. In this way, employees are freed from tedious work, allowing them time to devote to more important tasks to expand production.
The reason for automation in the company is a shortage of technicians. With a limited number of people, the factory could only work hard for a short time, but that was not a long-term solution. The solution was to use a robot that takes over the monotonous work.
The specialists at MQ Statieven made the robot mobile. They quickly move it from one machine to another with a cart with a pump, and it simply takes 15 minutes to set up, so automation in small production becomes more efficient. According to the company owner, the cost of the cobot is recovered within a year, provided it is used only during day shifts.
The robot's efficiency is much higher than that of a human. The robot can work without interruption, which increases daily productivity by 12 percent. In addition, the robot can change material at a rate of 12-20 seconds. In less than a year of use, its productivity has increased by about 30%. And that's not all the features the robot has to offer.
Isomo (ISOlation Modern) is a famous Belgian brand that produces styrofoam boards. Isomo sells 40% of its products in Belgium. Then there is France, a potentially growing market for small-sized panels, which the company wanted to tap into as quickly as possible. The problem was that the insulation packaging line in use was not adapted to the small formats and thus hindered the development of the new market. Initially, the packaging process was half manual.
In August 2011, a new automated line was implemented to handle smaller board sizes faster and more efficiently.
The new line is equipped with two robots for unloading and handling stacks of boards. The first robot takes the panels from the first robot, and the second one, equipped with special grippers, picks up the necessary number of boards and sends them to the packing machine. A computer controls the entire installation.
In addition to doubling the insulation capacity of the packaging (considering that this was the main obstacle) and increasing the production scale, the company reduced the production process from three to two shifts.
Unmanned and expensive
Transitioning to digital manufacturing involves designing and building a factory from the ground up. Creating smart factories involves robotization and implementing a digital concept. Systems become more complex, and artificial intelligence analyzes data and makes decisions without human involvement - these processes lead to the emergence of such a concept as a lights-out factory. The unmanned factory begins with the product design stage, the digital twin, and other technologies. The next is the setting of finished product production, logistics, and use. Humanless factory projects require significant investments not only in equipment but also in infrastructure. Launching a large-scale project primarily involves economic risks and takes a long time. The economics of a project is determined by the payback period, which is traditionally less than three years. Another problem faced by an enterprise that decides to build such a plant is the sufficiency of expertise, resources, and equipment of the right quality. It is challenging to build unmanned production facilities in fast-growing industries. Often companies in the pursuit of automation shorten the testing moment. That's why robots produce rejects. Therefore, even unmanned factories require humans. Many experts believe that one or two specialists are in demand per production area, and a team of at least 5-6 people is needed for an entire plant with 8-10 regions. At the same time, they believe that it is reasonable to completely abandon human services at hazardous production facilities.
The man is underestimated
Billionaire Elon Musk wanted to completely replace humans at the Tesla auto plant, but he returned the employees to the seat installation section of the showroom. The point is that robots cannot duplicate the movements of a human and perform the task well. Elon Musk admitted that he was in a hurry to replace the staff. He believes humans are underestimated because a human and a robot together will achieve better results than working alone. A new dimension will emerge when human intellect and artificial intelligence are joined. The future of manufacturing lies in cooperation between humans and machines. For this reason, the market for collaborative robots - will increase shortly, at 44.5% annually through 2025, to roughly $8.5 billion. The demand for collaborative robots for intelligent assembly of parts and electronics, where mechanical action alone is not enough, is growing fastest.