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The Co-bots are Calling

Suppliers say collaborative robots represent the disruptive automation that manufactures need to succeed in the future, but safety concerns still loom in the distance.

The Co-bots are Calling
The Co-bots are Calling

Manufacturers concerned about the future of their businesses are increasingly turning to collaborative robots as a way to address a skills gap, but, perhaps more importantly, to stabilize the existing jobs. Still, there are concerns related to safety. That was the overarching message from the audience at the 5th annual Automation Conference & Expo taking place this week in Chicago.

During a panel discussion on collaborative robots—or “co-bots,” executives from Mitsubishi Electric, Rethink Robotics, Universal Robots and Yaskawa Innovation, introduced their respective products and explained how this nascent market segment could be just the kind of disruptive automation that the factories need. And—to set the record straight—co-bots won’t take jobs away from humans. They will augment current working conditions.

“We don’t want to replace people,” said Yuri Ivanov, innovation scientist at Rethink Robotics. “We want to give them super powers.”

Super powers in the factory, that is, which will come in the form of durability, productivity, flexibility, and ease of use as robots and people work side-by-side.

“No guarding means mobility, which means flexible deployment,” said Craig Tomita, area sales manager for Universal Robots. Co-bots can be re-deployed easily and can automate almost any manual task, he said.

With less skilled labor in the workforce, “more automation means more jobs are stable,” noted one conference attendee. As the economy ebbs and flows, individuals don’t have to be let go in a downturn when a robot is doing the dirty work. More importantly, people work in ways that will grow the company. “It’s about creating sustainability within the business and minimizing the impact of the cost of labor.”

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