According to IDC, there is a growing preference to invest in manufacturing automation compared to investment in innovation processes as it offers more tangible benefits and a clear return-on-investment (ROI). Particularly in countries where wages are increasing, companies will be looking for fast productivity gains that allow organizations to continue to be competitive while guaranteeing high wages.
Moreover, as we move closer to achieving the Industry 5.0 vision - where man and machine work together on the smart factory floor - the need to consider the safety and compliance requirements of this new kind of workplace has become paramount.
This is especially because unlike traditional factories, the smart factory depicts a scene in which employees work side-by-side with collaborative robots or “cobots” using these robots as a multi-functional tool, like a screwdriver, packaging device or palletizer.
Ensuring the safety of this type of working environment becomes particularly vital when bearing in mind that 85 percent of manufacturers now consider the connected workforce being commonplace in manufacturing by 2020.
Taking into account the changing nature of manufacturing processes globally, new guidelines on how to ensure the safety of human workers in collaborative robotic systems were published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in February 2016.
The ISO/TS 15066 guidelines were developed as a supplementary document to support the ISO 10218 “Safety Requirements for Industrial Robots” standard. ISO/TS 15066 is a comprehensive document that aims to help integrators of robotic cells conduct risk assessments when installing collaborative robots.