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![Businesses are adopting automation to augment scarce workers and increase productivity, found HowToRobot.](https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AdobeStock_603389219-copy.jpg)
Companies are adopting automation to mitigate labor shortages and improve productiveness, discovered HowToRobot. Supply: Adobe Inventory
Companies are adopting automation to not change employees however to enhance scarce labor, in response to knowledge that HowToRobot launched yesterday. It discovered that 80% of respondents stated their initiatives are meant to free staff from handbook duties and transfer them to different extra value-adding actions.
The Denmark-based supplier of a world automation market platform stated its findings verify that companies are seeing robotics and automation as a complement to human labor, not as a alternative.
“From our day by day conversations with producers worldwide, it’s clear that the shortage of labor has been the driving issue behind enterprise selections to automate in 2023,” stated Søren Peters, CEO of HowToRobot, in a launch.
“By automating probably the most cumbersome duties, companies have been liberating staff to tackle different duties wanted to take care of manufacturing ranges and fulfill buyer orders,” he stated. “Not one we requested did this as a result of they needed to put off individuals.”
Labor shortages peaked in North America and Europe within the spring of 2022 because the COVID-19 pandemic eased, stated HowToRobot. These labor shortages continued at elevated ranges in 2023.
Within the U.S., manufacturing job opening charges averaged 4.5% in 2023, nearly twice the pre-pandemic common of two.8% from 2013 to 2019, in response to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Study from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and plenty of extra.
Labor shortages forestall productiveness progress
The second greatest motivation for automating in 2023 was to extend productiveness. HowToRobot reported that 70.9% of respondents’ initiatives had this aim.
Robots can enhance productiveness by lowering the labor hours wanted to create the identical output, it stated. This allows firms to extend wages, cut back costs, and develop their income, resulting in stronger financial progress.
With excessive inflation ranges over the previous three years, productiveness has been significantly vital for companies, stated Peters.
Labor shortages have additionally constrained companies’ potential to broaden manufacturing capability with handbook labor, additional rising demand for automation, stated HowToRobot. In 2023, 60.6% of automation initiatives sought to extend capability, making it the third-largest motivation to automate, the corporate famous.
Hourly compensation in U.S. manufacturing alone grew by 18% between 2019 and 2023, in response to BLS knowledge.
“When prices are rising quickly, what do you do as a enterprise?” stated Peters. “Both you chop down or spend money on areas that improve your productiveness.”
“We’re seeing that lots of those that had the foresight – and funds – to spend money on automation are actually popping out on prime,” he added. “They’re extra aggressive and may afford to pay their staff higher.”
![How to robot graph about automation drivers.](https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Automation-drivers-2023-HowToRobot-data-2.jpg)
Shifting employees to extra value-added duties, productiveness, and capability have been prime causes for adopting automation.. | Supply: HowToRobot
Product high quality, working situations matter, finds HowToRobot
A few third — 36.2% — of automation initiatives final yr sought to enhance product high quality and uniformity with automation, making it a reasonably vital enterprise aim, stated HowToRobot.
Handbook operations throughout sure elements of the manufacturing course of may end up in various product high quality and uniformity, which might result in extra buyer claims and useful resource waste. Peters stated that companies are more and more specializing in offsetting excessive enter prices.
“We additionally see a rising consciousness in regards to the environmental affect of wasteful processes and the way robots and automation will help cut back the ecological footprint of producing operations,” Peters stated.
Many companies additionally regarded for automation to enhance their working environments. Final yr, 31.5% of automation initiatives had this aim, stated HowToRobot.
For instance, companies can automate demanding duties that contain repetitive movement, heavy lifting, or hazardous environments. This could unlock staff to tackle much less backbreaking and extra significant duties, HowToRobot stated.
“It’s changing into clear for a rising variety of companies that investing in worker well-being additionally entails automation,” Peters stated.
Peters has stated that companies shouldn’t wait to plan future robotics investments. Based on HowToRobot, the time from beginning an automation challenge to signing an settlement with a vendor can differ from a couple of weeks to greater than a yr.
The sooner a enterprise begins the method, the earlier it might probably reap the advantages of automation, the corporate stated.