The UK Needs a Robot Payroll

The first industrial revolution began in Britain in the 18th century. However, in Britain today, the same cannot be said for Industry 4.0, as the UK manufacturing sector has been struggling compared to other regions. If we’re to reverse this and begin competing with other world-leading manufacturing nations, the UK needs to address the substantial lack of automation across the country’s manufacturing sector.

Research conducted in 2019, by the International Federation of Robotics, revealed that the UK is lagging behind other comparable global economies. For instance, in 2019 alone, Germany installed ten times the number of robots compared to the UK. As a result, it continues to live up to its well-earned title as the factory of Europe.

Read more: Global population of industrial robots at record high, says IFR report

Henry Ford, the father of the modern automobile, perhaps put it most succinctly, “If you need a machine and don't buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it and don't have it.” With regards to robotics, this old adage certainly still rings true and manufacturers must take note.  If you don’t automate, inefficiencies in production could cost you anyway, and you’ll probably lose out to competitors that already have.

To put it simply, the UK needs more robots and fast, but how? To fill the productivity gaps, manufacturers must consider treating robots the same they would human employees,  by introducing a robot payroll.

Removing the cost barrier with leasing

For many organisations looking to begin their automation journeys, cost can be the biggest challenge to overcome. However, collaborative robots (cobots) are less expensive than their larger industrial counterparts, which are the type of robot you’d typically see in an automotive factory, and cost the same as your average employee’s yearly salary. Furthermore, constantly changing consumer habits have left these larger, harder to maintain, industrial robots less suited to shorter production cycles. Introducing a robot payroll will encourage manufacturers to consider the investment costs of automation as just as necessary as an employee payroll.

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

Understandably, for smaller manufacturers, there can still be too much risk involved, especially given the market conditions due to the pandemic, and the uncertainty still posed by Brexit. But leasing could be the solution. Leasing a cobot means there’s less capital outlay involved, and as soon as it’s programmed on day one it can begin paying back the cost of investment. This approach also means manufacturers can trial small-scale deployments in different areas of production to see where they can benefit the most from automating.

But leasing isn’t just a vehicle for A/B testing and optimising production methods. As by the end of the first year the first cobot could’ve paid back the cost of investment, at which point you can invest in a second. Using this strategy not only means that automation is much more accessible to manufacturers of all kinds, but it also allows companies to exponentially scale up their numbers of robots year on year, with much less risk.

Addressing misconceptions

For many years robots only existed in the minds of science fiction writers, this coupled the dominant media narrative that robots steal jobs has led many people to have reservations about automation. First of all, we need to address the idea that automation is a an expensive luxury and only reserved for the largest, wealthiest, corporations – as automating processes across a factory floor has become far more attainable, cheaper and safer than ever. Similarly, manufacturers and employees alike can rest assured that whilst robots are incredibly useful tools for boosting efficiency and scaling up production, they simply cannot replace a human employee. Cobots take tasks, not jobs. They’re best suited to the dirtiest, dullest or dangerous tasks, which frees up human staff to take on more rewarding, less strenuous, tasks. Similarly, a lack of expertise is often cited as a reason to avoid automating. But collaborative robots are much easier to program, and it takes around 30 minutes to input a new task.

Read more: Carlsberg Fredericia cuts factory floor accidents with cobots

Britain’s new place on the global stage

The long-feared disruption in the wake of Brexit has only just started, but it’s too soon to tell the true outcome from our exit from Europe - and many questions still remain unanswered. Although the shortage of cheap European labour will almost certainly continue to put a strain on the industry. Will the UK be able to reap the rewards of an uninhibited global trade policy, or will we regress to pre-EU levels of output? – it’s too soon to tell. But if we’re to realise the Prime Minister’s ambitious plan of a ‘global Britain’, automation will likely be a crucial stepping-stone.

Aside from the county’s global ambitions, manufacturers of all sizes need to look to automation as a way of shoring up efficiencies and boosting output. Furthermore, the technology has become so commonplace it must no longer be thought of as a luxury or non-essential. Moving into 2021, organisations must think in terms of a robot payroll and begin harnessing automation, to offset the challenges posed by Brexit and the pandemic – or risk losing out to competitors that have already begun implementing automation.

The author, Mark Gray, is UK Sales Manager at Universal Robots.

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