M’sian manufacturers encouraged to adopt ‘cobots’ at their plants

LEADING Malaysian manufacturers have been urged to consider implementing collaborative robots (cobots) an effective solution to address skills and labour shortage as well as to achieve higher productivity.

Such is the advice rendered by Universal Robots (UR), Denmark-based cobot technology market leader.

This is because the country’s manufacturing industry stands to benefit most from robotics as the processes entail repetitive work in confined and structured spaces/environment that robots excel in.

Cobots can work around the clock, produce consistent work under harsh working conditions without any rest.

For every 10,000 employees, Malaysia has only 34 industrial manufacturing robots which is lower than the regional average with Singapore and South Korea notching a high 488 and 631 robots per 10,000 employees respectively.

After all, UR’s cobots allow employees to move from repetitive, low-value tasks to higher value activities that increase work productivity and quality.

“Ever since the term ‘collaborative robotics’ was coined, we have been the frontrunners in the robotics industry,” commented UR’s regional director (Asia-Pacific) James McKew.

James McKew

“Safety is imperative and has become the cost of entry into the cobot market now. UR believes in developing affordable, lightweight, and flexible cobots that could deliver a rapid ROI for the manufacturing industry.”

The manufacturing sector contributes 23.6% of Malaysia’s gross domestic production (GDP), second after services sector (57.8%) in 4Q 2020.

According to the “Collaborative Robot Market by Payload, Component, Application, Industry, and Geography: Global Forecast to 2026” report by Markets and Markets, cobots are increasingly being adopted by various industries due to advantages such as increased productivity and effective employee utilisation.

The market is expected to reach US$7.97 bil by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.8%.

Moreover, cobots’ market in the Asia-Pacific region is also expected to surpass that in Europe by 2021 due to large scale manufacturing industries especially automotive, electronics, and metal sectors which are increasingly deploying cobots.

With an average payback period as short as 12 months due to increased productivity, quality, and consistency, Malaysian manufacturers may foresee a return of investment (ROI) before year-end or early 2022.

Safety and versatility

Yokota Corporation, a Japan-based company that designs and manufactures bearing races, Factory Automation (FA) equipment, machines for assembly, packing and inspections, selected UR5 cobots to address its labour shortages.

The company tried engaging part-time employees and redeploying workers from other departments. However, these measures proved unproductive.

Traditional industrial robots were also considered as a solution but were later found not feasible due to additional space requirements and the need for safety guarding.

With safety and versatility as key benefits, the deployment of UR5 cobots led to the establishment of a stable production system, delivering a 20% production increase without the need for additional human resources.

As Asia remains the strongest market for industrial robots, UR encourages local manufacturers to deploy cobots on manufacturing floors.

“By lowering automation barrier within the reach of manufacturers who never thought that they could deploy robots due to cost and complexity, we hope to help Malaysia’s industries realise higher productivity and maintain effective utilisation of their plants,” added McKew.

Founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced and flexible cobots, UR generated a revenue of US$219 mil in 2020. – June 22, 2021

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