Machine Builders Navigate Change in the Age of Automation

Companies face increasing pressure to remain competitive, produce faster, and be efficient in changing markets, affecting machine builders who must deliver optimised, innovative, and secure processes for productivity.

FREMONT, CA: The surge in investments in motion control has already commenced, attributed in part to the escalating adoption of industrial robotics and automation. In the previous year, the International Federation of Robotics reported a remarkable milestone in the realm of robotics installations, with an excess of half a million industrial robots deployed within global factories over a single year. Simultaneously, the global motion control market has exhibited rapid growth since 2021, with one report projecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5 per cent through 2026.

An Impending Threat: Skill Shortages

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As automation continues to advance in sophistication, there arises a worldwide demand for upskilling and a pivot towards critical skills. Robotics and automation find their niche in highly repetitive tasks. For the workforce, which currently dedicates roughly half of its time to tasks susceptible to automation, digitalisation equates to a liberation of time for endeavours of higher value, such as those reliant on creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.

The Imperative of Velocity

End-users have grown increasingly demanding. Swift processes have become indispensable for manufacturers to uphold their competitive edge, thereby placing the responsibility on machine builders to expedite production without compromising quality. Consequently, machine builders must establish efficient processes that facilitate parallel engineering, simulation, and testing to reduce time-to-market and eliminate process bottlenecks. The rapid and efficient commissioning during initial setup, modification, and refurbishment also proves pivotal in minimising system downtime.

Flexibility and Profitability

Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a heightened emphasis on flexibility and profitability within machine concepts. Escalating supply and labour costs, coupled with the looming threat of disruption, have compelled businesses to reconsider their agility in responding to these challenges and align with customer demands. Accordingly, machine builders are under scrutiny to deliver solutions characterised by scalability, customisability, and cost-efficiency.

Security and Legislation

All these efforts must be undertaken with the utmost emphasis on safety and, now more crucially than ever, cyber-security. Machine builders are tasked with equipping their machines with compact, highly reliable safety systems capable of supporting advanced safety functions, all while remaining in full compliance with ever-evolving legislation and regulations.

Navigating Change

Machine builders frequently revert to conventional business strategies that have proven effective in the past, such as hiring external labour, augmenting machine complexity by introducing new features into existing machines, or attempting to counter mounting machine complexity with extensive training and testing. However, in an environment marked by continual change, these strategies are becoming less effective due to constraints in terms of time and cost.

Machine builders must explore innovative approaches to enhance the efficiency of their engineering and design processes, maximising the utilisation of their workforce resources. To this end, they need to:

Simplify Complexity: Streamline procedures and automate repetitive tasks in engineering and operation phases to decrease reliance on human resources.

Reduce Time to Market: Simplify intricate procedures and embrace parallelisation and virtualisation of engineering tasks.

Enhance Flexibility: Invest in modular, standardised, and user-friendly engineering and operation systems. Implement scalable motion control solutions capable of flexible adaptation to varying production requirements.

Prioritise Quality: Ensure utmost machine and operator safety while preserving productivity and adaptability.

Practical Implications

Siemens offers an exclusive engineering framework for efficient motion control and integration of kinematics solutions, encompassing:

• Efficient control of single and coordinated axes, with simplified integration and configuration, even for intricate motion control applications.
• Efficient simulation and testing of motion control applications, inclusive of open interfaces for co-simulation.
• Universal and standardised engineering, commissioning, and operation of robots, all within a single engineering framework.
• System-integrated functions and engineering of both standard and user-defined kinematics.
• A fully integrated safety solution.

This comprehensive framework provides an ideal, end-to-end, scalable, and secure environment for managing change and future growth. Here is why:

Introducing a unified engineering system within a singular framework, with user-friendly editors and standard programming languages, offers a straightforward and uncomplicated approach to implementing and overseeing all facets of operation. Furthermore, the incorporation of fully integrated safety solutions ensures comprehensive protection across the spectrum of production processes.

Simultaneously, it remains crucial to select an automation platform capable of flexible adaptation to evolving requirements. Modular architectures prove most advantageous in this regard due to their ease of configuration and reusability during the development phase. Additionally, intuitive, user-friendly interfaces in operation facilitate the swift adjustment of machine settings, fostering an environment where change is embraced rather than avoided. This approach can also expedite delivery with readily deployable software for any circumstance.

The accelerated time-to-market is also contingent on adaptability and the prompt identification and resolution of issues. Integrated control panels and editors, for instance, facilitate rapid and straightforward commissioning and virtualisation. Furthermore, comprehensive diagnostic functionalities allow for early error detection and validation of end-to-end machine automation. Next-generation digital twin technology, along with simulation and virtualisation tools, provides advanced mechanisms for troubleshooting and effective model-based operator training.

Lastly, efficient digital design and flexible interaction with secure kinematics enable the optimisation of machine space utilisation, an imperative in an environment where efficiency is intricately linked with profitability.

In light of the burgeoning demand for expeditious, efficient, and high-performance production, investments and innovations constitute the linchpin for remaining competitive and productive. While machine builders confront the formidable challenges posed by skill shortages, exacting demands from end-users, and the imperative of reconciling speed with safety and security, opportunities for excellence persist. By harnessing intelligent, user-friendly digital solutions, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can outpace competitors, expand production capacities, and cultivate client trust, while concurrently reducing costs and driving operational efficiency.