Industrial robot installations are one of the tools with which the recovery can be measured. In 2021 they started growing again across Europe, after two less sparkling years induced by the coronavirus.
The term “robot” is used generically and include sia i robot properly called (for example mechanical arms), both machine tools and their components but also automation and numerical control machines.
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The world average demand grew by 27%, the European one by 15% e in Italy hit 50%, according to data provided on 21 June by the International Robotics Federation. Ucimu-Sistemi per Produce, the association of Italian manufacturers in the sector, confirmed these data on 5 July in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), foreseeing an optimistic future.
Numbers that indicate a predisposition towards technological innovation, in this case the automation of processes and which, at the same time, bring demand back to pre-pandemic levels.
During 2021, demand was driven globally by theelectronics industry (132 thousand installations, up 21%), followed by the automotive industry (109 thousand installations, with an increase of 37%), by that of metals and machinery (57 thousand installations, + 38%). The leading sectors also include the plastics and chemical products industry (22,500, + 21%) and the food and beverage industry (15,300 installations, with a growth of 24%).
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The graph above highlights the fact that, albeit in contraction compared to the previous year, installations in 2020 – the year of forced clauses – have shown some degree resilience. We talked about it with Domenico Appendino, president of Siri, the Italian Association of Robotics and Automation. “During the lockdown, home automation and automation in general were decisive, in automated factories there are few places where workers are close by, if automation is well defined, you can get high security in an automated plant” .
The world governments, finding themselves in a position to close the activities due to Covid-19, have opted not to block the operations of those industries and businesses essential for the country and for the citizens. Automation and robotics can therefore be a way to avoid drastic lockdowns in the future, obviously hoping that there is no longer a need for lockdowns. “There is not only industrial robotics, think of robots used in hospitals or collaborative ones”, explains Appendino, “robotics was necessary and protagonist during the lockdown”.
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We are crossing a cultural limit
Robotics and automation are part of those technologies that bring with them criticisms and concerns. In this case, it is even obvious to say it is the workers who fear but, numbers in hand, the installations of automatisms of various kinds are increasing significantly without creating those repercussions to employment that were predicted to be catastrophic. In May 2021, the study “Stop worrying and love the robot: An activity-based approach to assess the impact of robotization on employment dynamics” was presented. University of Trento and the Institute of Statistics of the Province of Trento (Ispat), according to which in the period from 2011 to 2018, industrial robotics created employment.
“Robots are born as tools for man, they are of help to man. If we take the unemployment diagrams and the diagrams of the number of robots working in the various countries, we see that the curves indicate that, as the number of robots installed increases, the value of unemployment decreases. The robot is not only used to make a profit, but also to create acceptable and less strenuous working conditions for humans ”, explains Appendino.
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The National Industry 4.0 Plan
Born in 2016 and signed by the then Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, the National Industry 4.0 Plan has given a boost to the digitalization of companies, making them more competitive. “Not only more competitive, but also safer and more attractive for workers – adds the president of Siri – and if the state helps create investment opportunities, entrepreneurs believe in these investments. Plan 4.0 was a huge booster ”. The forecasts speak of a growing future, provided, however, that the current problems are exceeded.
The paradox
For 2022, total production is expected to be equal to 7.15 billion euros, up 13% compared to 2021 with an export growth of 13.6% to 3.63 billion. Numbers of some importance which, however, cause concern. Barbara Colombo, president of UCIMU-Systems to produce, showed an anomalous picture. The Italian builders are hoarding orders but, the increase in the price of raw materials and the scarcity with which there are electronic components, does not put them in a position to satisfy the demand. If we add to this the cost of energy, it becomes even difficult to implement pricing policies in line with the market, limiting the potential of the Italian sector. For this reason Colombo hopes for alternative energy sources and targeted interventions to mitigate the rise in prices.
Is the scenario really dystopian?
Very often, when we talk about robotics in the broadest sense of the term, we use the adjective “dystopian”, mentioned in 1868 (over 150 years ago) by the British economist and philosopher John Stuart Mill and, still today, cloaked in pessimism . The opposite, in fact, is utopia, or something so positive as to be coveted and considered impossible. If the global demand for tools, robots and automatisms is constantly increasing, if we are overcoming the cultural limit that requires us to look at technology with suspicion and fear, if we can accept the role that robots and automatisms have played during the pandemic, then we can leave the term “dystopian” behind and talk about one new normal.