CONTROL & AUTOMATION
EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY
SIEMENS
ALLOWING THE UK ROBOTICS INDUSTRY TO
EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY
Brian Foster, Head of Industry Finance
at Siemens Financial Services in the UK,
explores the opportunities for the UK’s
innovative and growing robotics industry.
Businesses and consumers are waking up
to the power of robots, as advancements
in new generation digitalised technology
(also known as Industry 4.0) are helping to
transform the robotics industry. Traditionally
deployed in the industrial manufacturing
process, new robot types such as consumer
or personal assistant robots and unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) are growing in
popularity with many other robot types,
such as autonomous vehicles, emerging
on the horizon. This popularity is set to
grow, and the worldwide robotics market is
predicted to reach $237 billion worldwide by
2022, more than seven times its 2016 value
of $31 billion.
Europe is at the forefront of this growth.
Across the EU and from the USA to China,
major industrial nations have identified
robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as
strategic economic and policy priorities.
The UK currently trails behind Japan,
Germany, the USA and many other nations
in the uptake of industrial robots. This
is in stark contrast to the strength of the
UK’s automotive and aerospace industries.
The UK is the second-largest aerospace
manufacturer in the world and UK car
production reached its highest level in
seventeen years in 2016. It is interesting
to note that the use of robotics in UK
manufacturing is dominated by the
automotive industry and is becoming more
prevalent in other major manufacturing
industries including aerospace.
Nevertheless, a recent boost to the robotics
and AI industry from the UK Government’s
Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, has
unlocked a substantial opportunity for
the UK to embrace the new robotics
age. According to the UK Robotics and
Autonomous Systems Special Interest
Group, the UK could take a 10% market
share of the global robotics industry within
the next few years.
Robotics and AI are already driving
innovation in a diverse range of sectors
where the UK has significant strengths,
including healthcare, manufacturing,
transport, aerospace and oil and gas.
46
PECM Issue 33
Focusing on these key areas, and
accelerating development in this wide range
of sectors will ensure that the UK leads not
only in terms of scientific advances, but also
in commercialisation and competitiveness.
Healthcare, for example, is becoming a
extremely important area of development
in the use of robotics and AI. There are a
number of innovative robotics companies
already operating in the UK and the
development of bionic limbs is currently
being pioneered by a British robotics
company who use 3D body scanning and
printing to create bionic hands that are
advanced, lightweight and low-cost.
The possibilities for manufacturers in the
robotics sector are growing and it is now
an important time for the UK to expand its
presence in the sector.
Robotic manufacturers aiming to put
innovative ideas into research and
development and then through to
production, however, are dependent on
expensive, custom-made equipment of
high specification which can be difficult to
acquire without having to commit scarce
capital. Against this backdrop, access to a
range of smart and appropriate financing
techniques –Finance 4.0 – is critical to a
company’s ability to sustainably invest in
the new fourth-generation of digitalised
technology and automation equipment.
Finance 4.0 covers a range of requirements
from the acquisition of a single digitalised
piece of technology, right through to
financing a whole new factory. These
financing methods can help make the
upgrade to digitalised technology affordable
and potentially cost neutral (or better) for
the manufacturer.
Finance 4.0 arrangements tend to be
offered by specialist providers, such as
Siemens Financial Services, that have a
deep understanding not only of how the
digitalised technology works, but also of
how that technology can be practically
implemented.
The benefits of development in the robotics
sector are significant and far-reaching,
meaning that manufacturers are racing
to keep up with multiple and continuous
technological trends and advancements.
To best navigate these, such companies
should consider working with a specialist
financier to help them understand the most
sustainable ways to invest in Industry 4.0
technology. Whilst this can be a challenge,
companies that delay investment and fail
to embrace the opportunities available
to them, risk being left behind by the
competition.
www.theengineer.co.uk/uk-must-
rise-to-robotics-and-ai-challenge/