A survey has revealed that three quarters of Australian manufacturers plan to invest in automation.
Commissioned by collaborative robot developer Universal Robots, the survey showed that robotics was the most popular type of automation chosen for future investment among Australian manufacturers.
Universal Robots is the Danish pioneer of human-robot collaboration, and wanted to canvas the views of various online groups within the Australian manufacturing community.
These groups include the Australian Manufacturers Forum, the Australian Furniture Association Industry Forum, the First 500 group of SME business owners, the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council, and The AiG Australian Manufacturing LinkedIn group.
The results showed three quarters of respondents were looking to invest in automation in the future, suggesting an increased focus on innovation within the Australian manufacturing industry.
Amongst those respondents looking to invest in automation, an overwhelming majority (57 per cent) plan to invest in robotic solutions in the future, while 36 per cent plan to invest in automation via materials handling.
A quarter of respondents plan to spend on Internet of Things solutions, while just over one fifth will invest in logistics.
Universal Robots’ results reinforce recent research from Telsyte, which found that one in three organisations intend to use robotics and 25 per cent of large organisations are already using Robotic Process Automation.
According to the findings, Australian manufacturers want to automate processes in order to improve business efficiency, reduce production time, improve quality, reduce staff costs, and free up staff to work on value-add tasks.
“In the face of high local labour costs and the need to drive efficiencies, automating processes is now considered essential in order to compete both on a regional and international level,” said Shermine Gotfredsen, general manager, Universal Robots, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Universal Robots (UR) has recently signed a distributorship agreement with Australian OEM and robotics and automation specialist, Foodmach. Two UR robots will be on the Foodmach stand (260) at the upcoming Auspack 2017, from 7-10 March, at Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park.
