At a time when interest and implementation of technology is more diverse, many businesses are at a crossroads in planning their future growth paths. In the area of automation, the technology is enabling companies to create different types of work environments. With the acceleration of new infrastructure, the domestic automation market has grown rapidly. According to data from MIR Databank, the growth rate of China's automation market in the first half of 2021 hit a new high in recent years, with the overall market size reaching 152.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%. Entering 2022, the automation of various modes will burst into new vitality.
Robotic automation to the forefront
Robotic automation covers collaborative robots, robotic process automation (RPA), autonomous mobile robots (AMR), and micro fulfillment centers. 2022 will set the stage for explosive growth in the field over the next five years. Robotic automation will be the foundation of operations alongside digital information systems and mobile technology. Given this, manufacturers must be open-minded when considering how to extend their smart factory model to warehouses and distribution centers that source raw materials and distribute finished goods. They must learn to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of today's robotic automation solutions, some of which can be deployed in a day or two.
Robots are an important field in the "Made in China 2025" program, and the high application demand has promoted the rapid development of the domestic robot industry and the construction of its ecological environment. According to the "China Robot Industry Development Report (2021)", the scale of China's robot market in 2021 is expected to be 83.9 billion yuan; of which industrial robots will be 44.57 billion yuan, and with the further expansion of the domestic market, it is expected to break through by 2023. 58.9 billion yuan. Meanwhile, robots and humans working together will be more visible this year. Employees will be more productive, and processes and fulfillment will be more efficient. When decision makers realize that today's solutions work well for humans and robots, their concerns about missing deadlines or going out of business will ease. In other words, in 2022 we will combine the strengths of humans and robots and demonstrate that both have room for growth in the labor market. Workers will no longer have to do jobs that robots can do, and robots can share jobs that employees don’t want to do. When robots begin to expand the workforce and remove the pressures currently placed on employees, everyone will experience an increase in morale and job satisfaction.
Industrial automation revives new kinetic energy
Deep learning is the main driver today, where systems can learn by example without explicit instruction or training to know what is right or wrong. The overhead scanning application that enables the transition from handheld to hands-free workflows will be relevant to every warehouse due to the efficiency gains it can bring. Barcode verification will grow in popularity as employees can easily compare the barcodes expected to be read against every label used in a manufacturing or packaging facility.
On the other hand, companies are expected to make great strides in track and trace technology this year. Fortunately, radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions are now moving to the cloud, making them fully accessible to businesses of all sizes. The RFID dock also makes it easy to convert mobile computers used by frontline workers into RFID handheld readers. Market adoption of RFID solutions is expected to grow in 2022, especially among transportation, logistics, and supply chain providers. At present, Zebra has successfully deployed RFID solutions for many enterprises in the industry, helping enterprises to improve their competitiveness and digitalization level in the ever-changing market.
At the same time, as more and more items are tagged at the source of manufacture, RFID will be more easily applied to automated track and trace, inventory management and reporting throughout the supply chain. Since it has been difficult to achieve reliable label reading for cold chain or liquid products, the positioning system will also be rigorously tested in the food and beverage supply chain. If the application is practical and the technology is trusted, it could transform the tracking and tracing of supply chains in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries.
A variety of software-driven automation models emerge as the times require
Analytical automation, which removes the need for data scientists to dissect manual information, is becoming increasingly valuable to businesses that require real-time performance updates for better planning. With an intelligent and automated predictive and prescriptive analytics platform embedded in business systems, every employee can easily view and understand market, demand, inventory and performance trends. Once artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms are set up, the system will automatically analyze patterns and push actionable notifications to stakeholders, telling them what to do next and why.
Workflow automation has also been a priority for businesses for years. Taking the healthcare industry as an example, according to a recent Vision Research report released by Zebra Technologies, about 80% of executives plan to automate workflows by 2022, thereby improving supply chain management and making it easier to locate critical equipment and medical assets. , better schedule emergency rooms and operating rooms, and simplify staff scheduling. However, as data digitization matures and the distribution workforce continues to grow, investments in this area will become more urgent this year. This will drive increased investment in intelligent software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that can identify and assign tasks, track status and take immediate action as deadlines approach. A great workflow automation solution should be simple and easy to understand, and new employees of the future can expect to be fully productive in most front-line positions on the first day of work with only a mobile computer in hand.
Finally, decision automation will come with machine vision, computer vision, artificial intelligence/machine learning, predictive and/or prescriptive analytics, and localization technologies, depending on the field of application. Decision automation removes the burden on employees, allowing them to make the right decisions based on the limited information they have. Fortunately, many decision makers across industries, including retailers and warehouse operators, have expressed plans to make their workflows smarter to help advance and automate the decision-making process.
Source: OFweek Industrial Control Network
