UK lagging far behind on robot uptake
12 Dec 2006
Indeed, according to Martin Walder, managing director of ABB UK’s robotics division, the UK’s population of 40 robots per 10,000 people is now about a third that of many of its industrial competitors -- and even further behind Japan, which operates 40% of the world's robot population.
While around 60% of UK robot sales are in the automotive sector, robot manufacturers believe that SMEs in non-automotive sectors offer the most potential for bridging the automation gap with overseas competitors. However, evidence from a least one major sector -- food and beverage -- suggests there are still some significant barriers to overcome.
Earlier this year, a British Automation and Robotics Association-backed survey identified a lack of long-term relationships with major retail chains as hampering the uptake of automation in the UK food-manufacturing sector.
In particular, the major supermarkets’ use of stop-start contracts were holding back food manufacturers from introducing automation, the survey found. The study also noted a widespread perception of a shortage of professional engineers with food manufacturing experience and a lack of awareness about the benefits of automation and robotics.
Few of the senior food industry engineers and executives interviewed were in talks with retailers about long-term partnerships and most were pessimistic that this would happen. Senior managers also tended to demand a payback from labour replacement within two or three years without considering the wider impact on profitability.
ABB's Walder believes that manufacturers were shying away from investment in robotics because of an increasing availability of low-cost labour and misplaced concerns about the in-house skills needed to deal with the technology. He also agreed that short-term investment strategies, particularly among SMEs, were another major issue.
Making the case for a change in attitudes, Walder said: “Robots offer SMEs a big competitive advantage” through increased product quality, higher output rates, production flexibility, HSE compliance and reduced labour costs. They can also, he noted, reduce recruitment issues and improve quality of work by eliminating hazardous, heavy or repetitive works.
Walder went on to present figures showing the hourly expense per employee at £10.54 compared to £5.00 for a robot. Between 1990 and 2006, he said, the average salary has gone up 74% while the cost of robotics has halved and performance doubled.
