The South Asian Cobot Revolution

"The optimal level of automation requires a balance of human and machine skills. Human skill is underrated, and partial automation gives the perfect opportunity for employees to utilize their talents to their maximum potential."

~ Pradeep David, General Manager – South Asia, Universal Robots

Human Robot Collaboration, or HRC has been an integral part of Industry 4.0, with the idea that human creativity could be integrated with machines changing the face of automation forever. Many industries in South Asia have adopted this form of partial automation – where employees and machines can exchange skills and thus work alongside each other in a risk-free environment. Collaborative robots, or cobots were built on this very principle more than a decade ago and today, are paving the way towards the next industrial age where collaborative technology completely takes over. As South Asian countries are becoming more and more aware of this niche technology, this article will take a look at India’s cobot journey over the last half-decade, and what the future holds for us.

South Asia’s First Cobot

When the world’s first cobot was introduced more than a decade ago, manufacturers were initially hesitant to use this new technology. Over the next few years though, cobots made their mark globally by providing flexibility, easy operation and safety to some of the leading industries, becoming the fastest growing market at a 45% CAGR. Due to the safety features that they are programmed with, cobots can continue performing tasks in the vicinity of humans without harming them. Their low power consumption and easy deployment meant that industries of all sizes could utilize them for round-the-clock production.

Although Indian manufacturers were amongst those who were hesitant to use this new technology, awareness about its benefits slowly grew and global automotive manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd became India’s first cobot user in 2010. The world’s third largest motorcycle manufacturer decided to automate their assembly lines with Universal Robots’ cobots due to their compactness, light weight, accuracy and low pay back period. This combined with the flexibility of automating multiple operations such as material handling and machine tending encouraged Bajaj to eventually install over 100 cobots on their assembly lines.

Image: Bajaj became the first cobot users in India, increasing their production and empowering their employees in the process.

For many manufacturing companies like Bajaj, collaborative robots have proven to be beneficial in multiple areas – be it higher quality standards, employee upskilling or even women empowerment. Many of the tasks at Bajaj factories involved physically arduous ones, posing massive ergonomic risks to their employees and making it difficult for female employees to work full time. However, the deployment of cobots meant that these tasks could be re-assigned to the machines, with women employees now operating the them instead. With a workforce that was 50% women, Bajaj thus succeeded in empowering their employees and opening up new doors for more women to take part in their factories.

Cobots Gain Momentum

India’s cobot journey officially started in 2015, when Universal Robots set up their first office in India. Ever since, cobots have been gaining momentum due to their ability to automate almost any task, including pick and place, machine tending, quality inspection, polishing, welding, packaging and palletizing.

"Since 2015, many South Asian manufacturers have been attracted to the idea of transforming their factories into collaborative ones. Today, the big players from almost all major industries have done so.”

~ Pradeep David, General Manager – South Asia, Universal Robots

Global companies like Continental, Carl Zeiss and Aurolab have all become cobot users over the years. Tech giant Dell installed a cobot in 2017 to combat efficiency issues at their end of line packaging. The cobot proved to be the best way to deal with the delicate nature of their products, and Del subsequently installed 3 more cobots over the years – proving that when it comes to accuracy and precision, cobots are the way to go.

India’s second largest air conditioning manufacturer Blue Star took a step towards a collaborative future when the company decided to automate the vital yet repetitive task of copper tube expansion. Facing issues with quality rejections due to the physical and mental stress of this task, Blue Star re-assigned this key operation to cobots and completely eradicated the stress and ergonomic risks associated with it. Due to their safety features, human employees could intervene and supervise the process as it was happening, helping the manufacturer increase their production by 10% and delivering their vision of high-quality products.

Image: For Blue Star, cobots paved the path to zero quality rejections

“Robots are known to help manufacturers make their mark in the current Industry 4.0 age, by increasing productivity levels while improving quality & ergonomics. Manufacturers need to understand that this niche technology is an essential part of increasing productivity to ensure that Indian products are globally sought after for their quality & competitiveness.”

~ Pradeep David, General Manager – South Asia, Universal Robots

The retail and FMCG sectors are some of South Asia’s largest & fastest-growing industries, with India’s retail industry alone expected to reach US$1.1 trillion by the end of 2020. Manufacturing in the FMCG industry consists of many labour-intensive and repetitive activities such as packaging and palletizing. In an industry heavily dependent on seasonal demand, consumer tastes and changing environments, employees are subjected to massive ergonomic risks while attempting to meet consumer demands. However, over the last half-decade, many of South Asia’s largest FMCG manufacturers have found the perfect solution to these issues in the form of Human Robot Collaboration.

L’Oréal, one of the world’s largest cosmetics companies, decided to further optimize their production and serve the market in real time by deploying a collaborative robot in 2016 for end of line operations. Handling the repetitive task of palletizing manually, L’Oréal’s employees were facing some of the most severe ergonomic risks everyday. With this task now being done by a cobot, the accuracy and production levels skyrocketed all while relieving their employees of the strain to their posture. Not only that, but the flexibility and easy programming meant that the cobots could be transferred to a different operation without any hassle.

Image: The flexibility of cobots enabled employees at L’Oréal to easily operate them for any task.

Reaching Industries of all Sizes

While it may seem as though only large corporations in South Asia are shifting to collaborative forms of automation, many SMEs and MSMEs in India are already cobot users. Just like large scale companies, SMEs in almost all major industries are slowly becoming more aware about the long-term benefits of cobots and over the last half-decade have become more willing to invest in such automation solutions. Cobots can be used for incremental automation i.e., automating a single process at a time instead of the complete production line. This particular feature can be very useful for small enterprises as they can identify the bottlenecks in their lines and place cobots just there, saving much time and money.

“Incremental automation is a very valuable solution as it enables manufacturers to choose automating a single process instead of an entire line. By starting with one automated process, SMEs have the option of deploying more cobots for other processes if they are satisfied with the results.”

~ Pradeep David, General Manager – South Asia, Universal Robots

MSMEs like SMEW Textile Machinery found the 360-degree axis of cobots perfect for increasing their production, and managed to do so by 300%. With a stunning ROI of less than a year, this family-owned business evolved from an MSME to an SME with the help of their new employees – cobots. SMEs in the automotive sector like New Engineering Works ended up deploying 6 cobots within a span of 18 months due to their compactness. By placing the cobots at the dull and dirty operations, NEW managed to upskill their employees by shifting them to more valuable work, ensuring that no jobs were lost either.

SMEs in the FMCG sector are a part of the fastest growing market for cobots. One of the leading food production companies in India, Shri Lakshmi Agro Foods made their factories future-ready by using cobots for secondary packaging of their product Udhaiyam Dhall – a move that resulted in the mass food manufacturer meeting consumer demands when they were at their highest. As cobots work on partial automation, they ensure that no jobs are lost – instead, workers learn how to become robot programmers! Being a vital part of the Indian economy, SMEs can reach global standards of quality and create a more value-driven market by investing in the right automation solutions.

Image: Secondary packaging of Udhaiyam Dhall by cobots skyrocketed their production levels.

Opening Up New Doors

Ever since Industry 4.0 introduced us to Human Robot Collaboration, automation has reached new heights by defying all barriers. South Asian countries may have started off a little later than other nations, but manufacturers are slowly climbing their way to the top by putting investing in smart and efficient solutions. Many of the world’s leading manufacturers would say that the way to success is partial automation – combining human ingenuity with the efficiency and accuracy of machines. Cobots provide just that, and over the last few years have been helping south Asian industries flourish. 

As Universal Robots completes 5 years of empowering India’s cobot journey, companies of all sizes and from all sectors have started perfecting their manufacturing. From some of the world’s largest manufacturers like Dell and Bajaj to SMEs like Shri Laxmi Agro Foods, Indian companies have truly invested in smarter solutions over the last decade.

“Our target has always been to democratize automation and we aim to continue to reach more and more SMEs and MSMEs, as these manufacturers can benefit greatly from deploying cobots as an easy automation solution. Our goal is so continue creating awareness about the idea of Human Robot Collaboration to all Indian industries – be it small, medium or large enterprises.”

~ Pradeep David, General Manager – South Asia, Universal Robots

As Industry 4.0 makes way for the next age – the age of collaboration or Industry 5.0 as some would like to call it, Indian manufacturers would want to transform their factories into those ready for the future. With future advancements, collaboration can become completely customizable for nay task that a human would like to perform – without sidelining the role of humans, though. The last few years have proven that India is ready for technological advancements, and if manufacturers continue on this path India can soon make its mark as one of the world’s leading manufacturers.