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Companies are adopting automation to mitigate labor shortages and improve productiveness, discovered HowToRobot. Supply: Adobe Inventory
Companies are adopting automation to not change staff however to enhance scarce labor, based on knowledge that HowToRobot launched yesterday. It discovered that 80% of respondents stated their tasks are meant to free workers from guide duties and transfer them to different extra value-adding actions.
The Denmark-based supplier of a world automation market platform stated its findings verify that companies are seeing robotics and automation as a complement to human labor, not as a substitute.
“From our each day conversations with producers worldwide, it’s clear that the dearth of labor has been the driving issue behind enterprise choices to automate in 2023,” stated Søren Peters, CEO of HowToRobot, in a launch.
“By automating essentially the most cumbersome duties, companies have been releasing workers to tackle different duties wanted to keep up manufacturing ranges and fulfill buyer orders,” he stated. “Not one we requested did this as a result of they wished to put off folks.”
Labor shortages peaked in North America and Europe within the spring of 2022 because the COVID-19 pandemic eased, stated HowToRobot. These labor shortages continued at elevated ranges in 2023.
Within the U.S., manufacturing job opening charges averaged 4.5% in 2023, virtually twice the pre-pandemic common of two.8% from 2013 to 2019, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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Labor shortages stop productiveness development
The second largest motivation for automating in 2023 was to extend productiveness. HowToRobot reported that 70.9% of respondents’ tasks had this purpose.
Robots can enhance productiveness by lowering the labor hours wanted to create the identical output, it stated. This allows corporations to extend wages, cut back costs, and develop their income, resulting in stronger financial development.
With excessive inflation ranges over the previous three years, productiveness has been significantly vital for companies, stated Peters.
Labor shortages have additionally constrained companies’ skill to broaden manufacturing capability with guide labor, additional rising demand for automation, stated HowToRobot. In 2023, 60.6% of automation tasks sought to extend capability, making it the third-largest motivation to automate, the firm famous.
Hourly compensation in U.S. manufacturing alone grew by 18% between 2019 and 2023, based on BLS knowledge.
“When prices are rising quickly, what do you do as a enterprise?” stated Peters. “Both you chop down or spend money on areas that improve your productiveness.”
“We’re seeing that a lot of those that had the foresight – and funds – to spend money on automation at the moment are popping out on high,” he added. “They’re extra aggressive and may afford to pay their workers higher.”
Transferring staff to extra value-added duties, productiveness, and capability had been high causes for adopting automation.. | Supply: HowToRobot
Product high quality, working situations matter, finds HowToRobot
A few third — 36.2% — of automation tasks final yr sought to enhance product high quality and uniformity with automation, making it a reasonably vital enterprise purpose, stated HowToRobot.
Guide operations throughout sure components of the manufacturing course of may end up in various product high quality and uniformity, which might result in extra buyer claims and useful resource waste. Peters stated that companies are more and more specializing in offsetting excessive enter prices.
“We additionally see a rising consciousness in regards to the environmental impression of wasteful processes and the way robots and automation will help cut back the ecological footprint of producing operations,” Peters stated.
Many companies additionally appeared for automation to enhance their working environments. Final yr, 31.5% of automation tasks had this purpose, stated HowToRobot.
For instance, companies can automate demanding duties that contain repetitive movement, heavy lifting, or hazardous environments. This will unlock workers to tackle much less backbreaking and extra significant duties, HowToRobot stated.
“It’s turning into clear for a rising variety of companies that investing in worker well-being additionally includes automation,” Peters stated.
Peters has stated that companies shouldn’t wait to plan future robotics investments. In response to HowToRobot, the time from beginning an automation venture to signing an settlement with a vendor can differ from just a few weeks to greater than a yr.
The sooner a enterprise begins the method, the earlier it could actually reap the advantages of automation, the corporate stated.