UK manufacturers resist robotic production investment 30 April 2014

Many UK manufacturers have yet to be convinced about the suitability of robotic automation for low-volume or bespoke production processes.

That's the unsurprising finding of a survey commissioned by ABB Robotics UK among 221 companies, 134 of which were not robot users.

Just over a quarter (27%) of the respondents were from low-volume and/or bespoke product plants, and believed robotic automation was inappropriate – a myth, according to Mike Wilson, general industry sales and marketing manager for ABB's UK robotics business.

"The unfortunate flipside of the success of robotic automation in the automotive industry is that it has led to a popular belief that robots are only suitable for mass production processes," comments Wilson.

"This couldn't be further from the truth. Developments in robotic technology have made robots more flexible than ever, enabling them to be quickly switched between completely different products and processes."

Wilson argues there is no reason why the flexibility and agility that enables packaging producers to use robots to handle dozens of differently sized and shaped products could not be readily applied to producing engineered products.

"While producing an engineered product may be a world away from handling a package, the underlying principle is the same – namely that a robot offers a highly flexible and efficient means of handling different processes and/or products, especially when compared to fixed-purpose machinery," he insists.

Wilson cites Suffolk-based agricultural machinery producer, Shelbourne Reynolds, which installed a robotic welding cell for low-volume articulated hedge cutting tractor attachments.

He also cites the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group ('Making Good: A study of culture and competitiveness in UK manufacturing'), which recommends that UK manufacturers embrace automation.

"One of the key findings of the report is that the cost-conscious, short-term outlook of British companies has prevented them from seeing the bigger picture when it comes to automation," says Wilson.

"A fixation on the capital outlay cost has meant that the longer term cost benefits of using automation to deliver flexible manufacturing, where the same line can be used to produce multiple products, are ignored."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
ABB Robotics Ltd

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