Guide to robot ROI whitepaper available now

Assisting UK manufacturers to create a business case for investing in robots, Intertronics has published a new whitepaper, 'Achieving ROI with robotics'. Based on in-house expertise and contributions from Mike Wilson, chief automation officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the piece examines why the UK sits below the global average for robot density and what the industry can be done about it. The outcomes of the roundtable discussion are obtainable from the company's website.

The benefits of robotics are compelling – improved productivity, quality, efficiency, output, and flexibility. As well as production benefits, they can enhance employees' health and safety and job satisfaction.

However, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) World Robot Report in 2021 discovered that the UK has a robot density of 101 robots per 10,000 employees, below the global average of 126. The Republic of Korea, for example, has more than seven times as many robots per 10,000 people as the UK, while Germany, Europe's leader in robot density, has three times as many. In 2021, robot installations around Europe were up 24% to 4,302 units but down by 7% to 2,054 units in the UK.

So why is the UK's uptake behind other nations? One potential barrier to robotics is a lack of understanding of return on investment (ROI) and concerns about the upfront cost. 'Achieving ROI with robotics' was written to meet this by assisting companies in building an ROI equation, busting common dispensing robot myths, and sharing customer success stories.

"In the UK market, dominated by SMEs, one of the main barriers to robot adoption is understanding of ROI and how to make a business case," explained Peter Swanson, Managing Director of Intertronics. "Combined with the general productivity and quality benefits of robots, market conditions and the current tax advantageous environment makes now a good time to consider investing in dispensing automation. Interestingly, many of our customers are able to benefit from a short payback period, perhaps even a few months. In these cases, even lack of capital should not be a problem."

The company provides robots for dispensing, curing, and surface treatment applications to medical device, electronics, automotive, and aerospace manufacturing customers.