For small and medium sized businesses, automation is a potential game-changer. For companies with tight margins and labor shortages, inefficient processes can present a big risk to profitability. But SME automation not only improves manufacturing and industrial processes, it helps businesses completely redesign them. Collaborative robots (cobots) are a proven, valuable and accessible way for businesses to start automating low level processes and boosting workplace efficiency, safety and wellbeing at the same time. Picking the right cobot solution is an important first step to unlocking the many potential benefits of SME automation.
Automation isn’t something that SMEs can afford to ignore anymore. It is not only an affordable solution to a number of long-term issues that many manufacturing companies are facing, but with the right training and support from integration partners it is also a lot simpler to implement than many people assume. In workplaces all over the world, millions of workers spend their days performing dull, dirty and dangerous tasks that don’t take full advantage of their skills, experience and insight. Businesses in these sectors want to grow, but a global shortage of labor makes it hard to fill the roles they need.
SME automation and collaborative robot applications are a way to plug labor gaps while also helping to free existing workers from repetitive, unsafe tasks, enabling them to take on higher value activities. Cobots are highly versatile tools that can be adapted to slot seamlessly into most manufacturing and industrial environments. This means making sure you pick the right solution is mission critical. Here’s how to do it.