Question

How the Robotics trend will impact the strategies and operational systems of manufacturing industry/business sector. Highlight at least two opportunities and two threats which will probably emerge in the manufacturing industry/business sector in the presence of the Robotics trend?

Answer 1

Introduction of robotics in manufacturing industry sector or as we commonly call it, Industrial Automation has made a huge impact since its introduction at almost every level in the system. So basically, usage of robotics in the manufacturing industry, replacing human based labor with automated machinery where applicable is industrial automation. With the development of smarter technologies and machines, usage of industrial automation is bigger than ever today. Now, talking about changes in strategies that manufacturing companies will follow to keep up with this trend are several. First of all, the biggest impact will be the decreased manpower required on production floor. Then, identification of areas where automation can be deployed will be important. More budget will be alloted to R&D and investments in technology will be increased so as to optimize the output from these machines on job floor. Also, since there will be a decrease in production cost due to improved efficiency and volumes, this cost margin can be moved to the customer in the form of decreased prices of the commodity.

Opportunities:

• With higher investment in R&D and tie-ups with various robotics companies, the manufactures can reduce their wastes and improve efficiency on the production line heavily. This will help them bring down the product cost even lower and they can give this cost benefit to the customer.
• Another opportunity for manufacturing firms who donot want or do not possess capital to invest in automation can sub-contract system houses to develop products efficiently. This way they dont have to make a big investment but still bear the fruits of advantages of industrial automation.

Threats:

• The ever improving and changing technology can pose as a threat as well. The manufacturing companies following automation need to make sure that they are up to date with the technological trends. A big investment in a technology that becomes outdated after an year or before breaking even on its cost is a big threat.
• Rising cost of energy might be a threat in many developing countries. In some cases, the energy cost deployed to run machines might me even more than the labor cost. So, manufacturing companies need to do this cost analysis beforehand keeping in mind the forecasted rates of energy/electricity in the region.