Process automation and its potential to drive economic expansion and increase employment opportunities
Automation in manufacturing denotes putting products into high-volume production with systems and processes that are automated and need no human intervention. These tools are made to help enterprises with operations, including processing, assembly, inspection, inventory management and production scheduling. In the past, a tool would typically perform a specific activity. But as technology advanced, the range of functions a tool performed expanded.
The Global Rise of Automation
The automation industry in India has advanced from simple operational mechanization to complex automation. Sophisticated automation leverages smart manufacturing, which uses technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data track-and-trace, cyber-physical systems, internet of things (IoT), poka-yoke and digital twins to provide actionable data insights for ongoing development.
The Indian industrial automation market is predicted to expand at a CAGR of 14.26% between 2021 and 2027, rising from its estimated value of US$10.72 billion to US$23.09 billion during the forecast period. In India’s industrial automation sector, optimal performance has been attained by combining the digital and physical components of manufacturing. The emphasis on achieving zero-waste production and a speedier time to market has also aided the segment’s growth. However, this market is crowded with many companies. Given this scenario, product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions – strategies that feed the industry further – must be used to increase market share and recyclability.
The rising adoption of automation globally can be attributed to its contribution towards the continuous push for increased throughput, enhanced productivity and decreased operating costs in the industrial segment. By directing employees’ expertise toward more crucial activities and integrating automated procedures into factory operations, companies acquire a competitive edge.
Additionally, it can minimize hazards related to labour shortage, ensuring that manual activities result in few or no errors, produce superior products, shorten the manufacturing lead time and improve safety during the use of dangerous or poisonous chemicals.
One of the notable industries with a sizable automated manufacturing facility around the world is the automotive sector. Significantly, several manufacturers have automated their production facilities to preserve precision and effectiveness. Moreover, it is anticipated that the growing trend of EVs (electric vehicles) replacing conventional cars will boost demand in the automotive segment.
Overall Advantages of Automation
Contrary to popular assumption, automation won’t substitute human labour. Instead, it will result in the dynamic collaboration of technological knowledge and human skill, paving the way to an era where humans and robots coexist. The World Economic Forum estimates that technology will create 12 million jobs. It’s just that the nature of jobs would be different, which is at the root of technology anxiety. What’s more, these newly-developed, specialised jobs will provide workers with safer, more rewarding career paths.
In this regard, technology can mitigate or even eliminate the effects of the skilled workforce shortage that the US, for example, has been facing in its manufacturing segment for quite some time. Here, one of the quickest solutions is automation. By filling the roles generated by automation, employers can create an equal playing field for people with disabilities and other challenges. For instance, robotics can eliminate the “ability to lift” requirement, creating new job options.
The design phase could also gain from digital twin technology, which offers a virtual depiction of an object or process and can speed up innovation. These outcomes could spur economic expansion together with rising consumer demand for goods. Furthermore, it will need a technically-skilled labour force to support this. The various job profiles that the increased adoption of process automation would lead to include robotics engineer, robotics programmer, automation engineer, software developer, mechanical design engineer, robotics welder, controls engineer, robotics perception, navigation specialist, etc.
Accordingly, businesses and governments must cooperate in the adoption of cutting-edge technology and methodologies to alter the workforce and support job growth increases. The industrial segment, among others, is undergoing a digital transformation that offers people tremendous opportunities to transition from monotonous, slow jobs into exciting, fulfilling positions.
In the current scenario, it is crucial to invest in people by giving them the training necessary to succeed in this new environment. Thereby, workers will become more empowered to build a more dynamic, digital environment where humans and machines coexist while productivity rises.
(The author is Mahesh Wagle, Founder and CEO, Cybernetik, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
