Sustainability in manufacturing through collaborative robotics

We are living in a changing world. There’s a high focus on unstable supply chains, risk management and waste reduction so thinking about cobotics (collaborative robots) and sustainability could be the game changer for a manufacturing business.

Globally, businesses are moving away from long complex supply chains and large-scale centralised production in one region. Increased awareness of the carbon footprint over the full product life cycle has forced companies to rethink the way they are producing.

The current trend of decentralisation of manufacturing has been great for Australia because we are a good springboard into Asia. We have a strong global reputation as a trusted partner who produces high quality goods. Instead of sending goods from the US or Europe it now makes great sense to have decentralised manufacturing in countries like Australia.

Sustainability and climate change is now strongly in focus at the board level due to the rise of carbon taxes and tariffs. Companies are looking for ways to decrease their carbon impact through analysing their supply chains to increase efficiency and reduce waste. Luckily, reducing waste is a natural way of thinking for manufacturers. Carbon footprint reduction and Lean manufacturing methodologies go hand in hand. Lean is all about maximising productivity while simultaneously minimising waste within a manufacturing operation. The bottom line: Lean sees waste as anything that doesn’t add value that customers are willing to pay for and customers are no longer willing to pay for carbon heavy products.

Benefits in the move towards cobotics

When you decentralise and go small you have to think smart. You need to ask, ‘how can I design my processes to be replicable and cost effective on a small scale.’ Here cobotics can play a very important role. Classical industrial robots found in large scale facilities tend to take up a huge footprint with few inbuild sensors or intelligence, needing significant human programming during development and operation. Due to size and safety reasons, robots often need to be placed away from humans in secure cages. Cobots on the other hand are smaller, more adaptive, often with inbuilt sensors and easier to program and control. They are focused on being used in collaboration with humans and can therefore be used in more places in production than the traditional robot.

Cobotics can help achieve and speed up net zero transition even in traditional industries like steel. Green steel is such an exciting opportunity for us here in Australia, as we could benefit significantly from a global shift to emissions free steel if we play our cards right. Australian researchers have been working on a plethora of options to achieve this goal. Many of these technologies require high amounts of renewable energy to produce hydrogen and electrolysis technologies, and we are incredibly well placed to deliver this with lots of sun, land, and options to deliver the energy in a renewable way. This gives us such a great value proposition for green steel. With novel process development, and potential for decentralisation comes the opportunity to rethink the way we produce, and how we can incorporate collaborative robots in the process.

Cobotics can also play a strong role in supporting diversity and equality in manufacturing. It can even out the classical male and female roles that for instance are dependent on physical strength. When I started in manufacturing it was common that the men were at the front of the line taking care of the heavier processes, like lifting and moving raw materials, and the women were at the end of the line doing quality control and high precision work that required fine motor skills.  The use of cobots can provide assistance with lifting and manoeuvring heavy components to allow a person of any stature to perform the role. Cobotics can encourage and ensure a better gender mix on the floor and make a company less vulnerable to staff or cultural changes.

Collaboration is the key to sustainable success

Although the benefits of cobotics are well understood, there aren’t a lot of local case studies that businesses can access. Telling our stories, and sharing lessons learnt is so important when it comes to the implementation of new technology. We need to create places, like the Australian Cobotics Centre, to discuss and learn from each other in a more collaborative way in terms of how to use cobotics in our business.

With this approach, cobotics can lead the way for problem-solving, greener productions and increased Australian manufacturing capabilities.