Companies from all walks of life are finding new ways to increase their productivity and competitiveness in the wake of the pandemic. As a result, ABB has compiled a series of forecasts and studies to determine the main trends for the growth in demand for robots this year. Marc Segura, the division's newly appointed president, said: "The pandemic has accelerated global megatrends, from labor shortages, to personalized consumers and increasing pressure to operate sustainably and flexibly. This has left many new Companies are starting to focus on machine technology. New trends will continue to emerge that will increase demand in areas where robots have not traditionally been used. Based on interviews with ABB, market research and a global survey of 250 companies, AB has identified three key drivers for robotics demand in 2022. Key Trend (1): The Development of Electric Vehicles Will Drive Major Changes in Automotive Manufacturing and their supply chains must deal with the complexities of diversifying electric vehicle production while being within production. Only by doing so, will they comply with various regulatory frameworks regarding the introduction of electric vehicles on a global scale. Both new and established manufacturers will move away from traditional Linear production, moving to modular flexible production, which will give them the necessary speed and greater flexibility.
Segura said: “Electric vehicles are not just powertrain changes, but a broader transition to digital vehicles. This transition will also mean increased adoption of robotics combined with other technologies, including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) ). This will allow manufacturers to optimize the supply of components across facilities and enable the emergence of integrated, scalable, modular manufacturing cells. However, these methods traditionally associated with e-commerce and consumables are now also in the automotive industry Necessary to provide the flexibility needed to meet different demand levels Another major change will be to move battery production closer to the assembly line based on sustainability and regional requirements. In most cases this change will require entirely new The production facility trend (2) - e-commerce will continue to grow rapidly Consumer behavior and expectations are forcing companies to find new ways to meet demand, develop new channels through multi-channel sales, and adjust production lines and distribution processes to achieve Personalization of products and deliveries. To meet these needs, thousands of robots have been installed around the world where robots were not used five years ago. This rapid pace of automation will continue in 2022, which will require Thanks to a combination of consumer trends and growing labor shortages, this trend will mean an increase in the use of lighter and smaller robots, allowing automation to expand into new areas of warehouse and distribution operations. Artificial intelligence in robotics is becoming more and more The more advanced, learning robots become the norm. It is therefore expected that these technologies will be deployed alongside AMR technology, controlled and managed by intelligent software to provide greater flexibility, speed and efficiency.
Trend (3) - More and more robots will be used for entirely new applications, and workers will need new skills. Smaller, more affordable, and easier-to-use robots, such as ABB's YuM, GOFa, and SWT robots, are helping to eliminate Barriers that have previously held back companies from investing in robots. As a result, the adoption of robotics in both general industry and small and medium enterprises is accelerating as companies seek new ways to automate various activities. Looking beyond 2022, we can expect the growing focus on connectivity and data collection to be key drivers of future manufacturing. Manufacturers will analyze data collected from automated processes equipped with intelligence to make more informed decisions. At the same time, more advanced and responsive simulation and programming software tools, such as those in ABB Robotstudio software, will cover the entire life cycle of robotic applications, from commissioning to actual production operations, including the use of augmented and virtual reality tools for Customers simplify automation. "Segura believes that the more advanced capabilities of robots to work directly with humans, share tasks and learn through artificial intelligence are facilitating the application of intelligent automation in new environments such as buildings, medical laboratories, restaurants and retail. In the future, robots will be ubiquitous in the workplace , so not only do technicians and other employees need to be retrained, but also more robotics training for college students to learn the skills to program, operate and maintain robots in an automated future
A decade of change The trends outlined for 2022 represent the latest chapter in the ongoing transformation of robotics, characterized by the ever-faster adoption of robots across industry
