IE Talks Automation & Covid-19 with Universal Robots' Mark Gray

With Coronavirus sweeping across the world, the UK government has launched a scheme which aims to complete 100,000 coronavirus tests a day in an attempt to stem the tide of the pandemic. Many see this as an unrealistic goal, with others offering innovative ways to help alleviate the concerns of those who worry this may not be enough.

Today IE speaks to one such innovator, Mark Gray, the country manager for the UK and Ireland at Universal Robots, specialising in collaborative robots, also known as cobots – automatons that work alongside humans to maximise efficiency in the workplace.

Industry Europe:  Thank you ever so much for speaking with us, Mark. It’s certainly an interesting time we find ourselves in. How has the lockdown affected your company?

Mark Gray: It’s been interesting. We’ve ramped up digital marketing and various similar schemes. On top of this, we’ve hosted various events including webinars to help educate people and increase interest in the field of collaborative robotics and exhibitions to show off our robots and what they can do.

It’s been a little overwhelming. We’ve done more of this type of thing than we ever had before, but it’s presented an exciting opportunity for us and we’re glad to offer assistance in any way we can.

IE: Tell us a little bit about your company.

MG: We’re a Danish company with firms across Europe and we’ve been operating since 2004 and we specialise in the area of collaborative robots.

Before the outbreak, our main goal was to analyse the various labour gaps that exist within the workplace, both in the UK and abroad, particularly in areas such as production lines and development of goods. Several areas lack a significant workforce to operate efficiently, and it’s our job to get things running smoothly to maximise throughput for these companies.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, we shifted our focus to firstly helping companies maintain social distancing.  For example, on a production belt, instead of halving the workforce as many companies do, our idea was to have human workers separated by a short distance as fitting with the parameters of social distancing and then have our cobots slotted between them. This allows these manufacturers to operate at maximum efficiency even when half of their staff is furloughed, or to double their production if they have everyone on the floor. They can then allocate and swap shifts and give as many people as possible as much work as they can.

We’ve had companies get in contact with us for various kinds of production, but a particular one of note is a company that requires assistance in creating ventilators so they can increase mask production. One advantage is that these robots can be left to operate 24-hours-a-day meaning this can significantly affect their workload and throughput which can be a huge asset to many of these firms as it may even end up increasing their profits.

IE: It’s no secret that the government has recently announced their intentions to perform 100,000 tests for coronavirus daily. How can the government best utilise this kind of automation to help them achieve their targets?

MG: The government has recently opened three superlabs located in Manchester, Birmingham and Milton Keynes to allow for the testing. However, they simply don’t have the manpower to properly allow for this testing to take place in a proper capacity. For this reason, automation is the key to allow for the slow ramp-up needed to lead to an exponential growth in production and to increase the number of tests performed.

Simply put, allowing robots to work with humans in this kind of work will increase productivity – and we’ve had some studies come in to give us figures – by as much as 85%.

The process needed takes a long time, and increasing the workforce will make this much faster. I want to get across three key messages that should hopefully convince people. Firstly, our cobots can be deployed quickly and they are incredibly flexible; there are many applications you can use them for without the need for a human guide. It can shave down production from, say, six months down to a few weeks. Secondly, with the figures as they are automation must be in place. The cobots can be up and running within an hour, with a quick ramp-up and can be led to incremental steps to increase automation within the workplace. Lastly, as mentioned, the primary purpose of this kind of automation is to assist the workforce in any way they can. You may need to automate certain parts of production, however, as this may decrease task time. Despite this, it can help the predominantly human workforce increase their productivity which could have greater benefits including allowing the company to expand its workforce with the extra money they could be bringing in.

IE: So how exactly do these cobots work?

MG: When one is ordered, it arrives in two boxes. One contains the cobot itself and the other contains the controller and a guide. The cobot is then bolted to a table and can be set up and running in less than an hour. There is a socket on the wrist to which different devices can be placed depending on the task at hand. Think of it as like an automated toolbox with different applications than can be used and set up in under five minutes.

IE: There are many implications that can arise from allowing automation of this kind. What are some net positives of automation? In essence, what are the main benefits of using these cobots?

MG: The primary benefit is increased productivity. Think of it like someone making a set of kitchen draws. The person would have to first arrange the draws and then screw them in before moving to the next one. Now imagine two people doing the same task. You could have one person arrange the shelves and then have the cobot screw then in while that same person moved onto arranging another set while the cobot was screwing in the screws. It’s like having another set of hands. Imagine if everyone working in a factory had another pair of hands to help them manufacture whatever they needed. This would allow anyone, including the government to get as many products through the testing process as possible which would allow for maximum efficiency in the workplace.

Furthermore, our cobots are designed to be accessible. They can easily be picked up and used by anyone, not just someone who is a robotics programmer. As I’ve stated before, they are flexible, efficient and multi-purpose and more importantly – collaborative. They allow workers to increase their productivity in the workplace while also increasing safety and allowing for faster production and greater throughput for everyone.

IE: One downside of shifting towards a more automated workforce is the worry that many people could lose their jobs due to robots working more efficiently and for significantly longer periods than a human being can. How would you alleviate people’s fears in this department?

 MG: Our main goal is to allow for these robots is to collaborate and work alongside employees. There is a simple metric that can be applied to the situation: if a company’s throughput is significantly increased, their profits will increase alongside it. This will lead to a net increase in jobs in particular fields.

An interesting case study we have is that of Trelbor, another Danish company who incrementally introduced 40 robots into their production over two years. This led to a net increase of thirty jobs within their company and allowed them to recruit more people in areas that cannot be automated by robots, such as admin, sales and certain production areas. The important thing to remember is that this topic is not black and white. Robots take tasks, not jobs. One area we can help is releasing workers from dangerous or otherwise dirty jobs – jobs which may increase their chance of exposure – and allocating their skills elsewhere. Let’s go back to the issue of testing for coronavirus. Automation can help curb the spread of the virus in two ways: by helping run the tests, and also keeping negating the chance that those working in those labs will contract coronavirus by performing higher-risk tasks that could potentially lead to infection.

A simple analogy is this: imagine you have a rotten, old oak tree in your garden. Do you use an axe to cut it down, which could take four hours? Or do you use a chainsaw, which could fell the tree within ten minutes? The choice is obvious. Increasing efficiency allows for a significant increase in growth for production companies.

IE: Are there any particular long-term implications if automation within the workforce is actioned?

MG: Britain is one of the least-robotised nations in Europe – far behind other countries such as France, Germany, or any other countries with similar economies, populations and technological advancements. This presents us with a real opportunity. There are still many areas with significant labour shortages. For instance, a few weeks ago we flew in 150 Romanians to pick fruit because it was the kind of work the British public was not willing to do.

Supermarkets provide the vast majority of the food the British public consume, and very little comes from farmers, restaurants and the like. With the advent of coronavirus, however, farmers have had a real boom in demand for their produce. Even with a workforce supplemented by immigration, they still cannot meet these demands and they are in dire need of assistance. Our cobots and automation, in general, could help with the processing, packaging and shipping of home-sourced produce, both in terms of domestic shipping, as well as when demand allows for exports. This will also allow for people to source more food domestically and not have to rely solely on imported goods. Technology makes our lives easier.

IE: Hearkening swiftly back to the coronavirus testing situation, if a vaccine is produced, how could automation and your cobots provide help to those in creating it, and how quickly could automation help push out the vaccine to the public?

MG: Automation would be essential for the production of a vaccine as in cases like this, taking maximum advantage of robotic assistance would be mandatory in making sure the vaccine is safe and ready on time.

This could continue nearly 24/7 to help meet domestic needs, then also to help it when it comes time to export the vaccine to the rest of the world.

There are already some automation services in Britain that could aid in the production of a vaccine. However, they are not equipped to deal with every facet of this production. Our cobots can be set up quickly and safely and to take the necessary time – even if production is slow – to help provide a safe and exemplary vaccine to ship to the public.

IE: Thank you so much for talking to us, Mark. It’s been a real pleasure. Is there any other point you wanted to add?

MG: Adaptation to the situation is difficult and I wanted to put it out there that we are willing to help. We have entirely shifted our prerogative to helping deal with the virus and we have integration teams, robotics programmers and industry specialists working around the clock so that we can get through this together.

We also allow for services for those who wish to enquire about adoption automation within their workplace, or if they have any questions as to the services we can provide to ensure that we get through this virus as efficiently and as safely as possible. 

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