The rise in prominence of automation is not hard to spot when you delve into the depths of manufacturing across all major sectors; improving health and safety standards, streamlining manual processes and producing better quality and consistent product lines for customers. Furthermore, new technological developments over the past couple of years suggest that these tried and tested processes could just be the beginning when it comes to how automation is used to its full potential within retail manufacturing.
With their ability to self-regulate decision making, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have long been tipped as the future of the industry, and not just for their cost and time saving benefits. Here, Chris Unwin, CEO at LAC Conveyors and Automation explains what innovations he expects to make a big impact within retail manufacturing in 2019.
Bringing autonomous vehicles into the warehouse
There has been plenty of conversations in recent press surrounding the use and development of autonomous vehicles, with the UK Government revealing ambitious plans to have these vehicles on the nation’s roads by 2021. While the British public wait with much anticipation for trials to be completed, the manufacturing industry looks to benefit from the installation of these vehicles a lot sooner. Autonomous Intelligent Vehicles (AIVs) and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are now in the process of being rolled out within warehouses across the country.
Many major retail manufacturers have considered implementing AIVs, AGVs and robotics for a number of key tasks including moving tools, managing stock levels, shipping and within ERP systems and following the widespread attention automation has received in recent months, and I believe we will see many more smaller suppliers recognise the benefits of these types of systems to improve productivity and efficiency.
While these vehicles have their own unique benefits and shortfalls, engineers are still working to address some of the health and safety concerns many manufacturers will, and should, be concerned by. AGVs, for example, are only able to follow pre-programmed paths (using elements such as line-following technology, magnets or barcodes) so wouldn’t be suitable for environments where there are a lot of members of staff moving around or where the warehouse floor is crowded.
However, the emergence of AIVs, which can safely operate alongside human members of staff and can operate successfully in dynamic environments, could be the key to the widespread deployment of these vehicles.
Implementing AI effectively
One of the key observations within the engineering sector is that many companies are looking to AI and robotics to help provide solutions that address the ‘skills shortage’ within the manufacturing sector.
While the vehicle manufacturing sector has been successfully implementing the use of AI in their manufacturing processes for many years, this year could be the time when smaller retail manufacturers realise their ambitions and begin to implement intelligent solutions. Research suggests that customers are now ‘less loyal’ than ever before and are not afraid to make the move to another brand following a poor customer experience such as a faulty or poor tasting product. Automated solutions, when programmed correctly, reduce the incidence of human error and produce more consistent product lines – this could be in the form of packaging or the consumable good itself.
Providing support for staff
The potential for minimising health and safety risks for those involved within manufacturing through the correct use of robotics and AI could be enormous. Utilising robots to enable human operatives of machinery to be removed from direct contact with potentially harmful devices can only be a good thing. Many solutions which I envisage to become more commonplace in warehouses this year is where robots will specifically deal with the dangerous part of the work specifically, safeguarding physical members of staff.
Automated technology is often a welcome alternative to having to manually complete repetitive tasks by hand, leaving the human operator time and space to think about other elements of work that require closer attention. I believe they will also play a crucial role in tasks where humans are restricted through problems such as space restraints or in hazardous conditions such as extreme high or low temperatures.
What are the challenges?
The demands and challenges associated with the retail manufacturing industry is constantly changing and as such, the complexity of solutions required involve a vast amounts of time for implementation, collaboration and testing required to ensure they perform to the best of their ability.
While firms such as LAC Conveyors and Automation are working tirelessly to ensure the elements mentioned above will be implemented seamlessly, the goal posts for what successful automation means is constantly shifting, therefore continuous R&D is critical.
Furthermore, it’s important to remember that while AI and robotics are excellent ways to improve productivity and reduce costs for food manufacturers, these solutions have been designed to support human members of staff, rather than replacing them.
