Automation and the journey to net zero

08 February, 2022

Wilson firmly believes automation has a significant role to play in terms of achieving the UK’s net zero targets. He maintains this is achievable partly through ensuring our manufacturing is as efficient and effective as possible so that things such as energy use and waste are reduced, and also by ensuring we enjoy the benefits from using the automation. Wilson added that Brexit and the pandemic have highlighted some of the shortcomings in our supply chains. “Over the past 20 or 30 years we have offshored a lot of our manufacturing, and COVID-19 in particular has demonstrated that those long supply chains are a problem,” he said, adding that we shouldn’t necessarily rely on those going forward. Wilson’s view is that we are going to start to see an increasing amount of manufacturing re-shoring, which he considers to be good for the UK as well as providing a positive impact on our net zero commitments. “When we look at our carbon footprint as a country, we can’t offshore our manufacturing and then pretend it doesn’t matter,” he says. “We need to look at the carbon footprint of everything that we do and shipping things all round the world is not necessarily a good thing. We need to make more of what we use locally in the UK and to do that competitively we need to use more automation. So, I do think automation will have a positive impact on our net zero future.

However, with a considerable level of reluctance to invest in automation equipment in some quarters within the UK, how can OEMs, integrators and designers overcome such a barrier, and how can prospective users/beneficiaries be better incentivised? During the Talking Industry webinar, Martin Kidman, market product manager (UK & Ireland) – safety solutions at SICK Sensor Intelligence, said he believes there needs to be a culture change at the top, stressing that many companies are still relying on old machines and, consequently, struggling to source spare parts. “Things are falling down so it’s really about just continuing to push this message that we really need to do something about it,” he said, adding that some people just look at today’s turnover instead of looking further forward. During the webinar, Stuart Coulton, market development manager at Omron Electronics UK Ltd, also emphasised that when it comes to realising a greater level of automation deployment it’s largely about strategy and culture change.

The benefits of robotics and automation are well-proven, although the initial financial outlay can put many companies off the idea of investing. Therefore, messaging around the benefits concerning fast payback on investment, greater efficiencies and accuracies, energy and waste savings inter alia needs to be amplified even further. This is all the more important if we as a nation are to honour our net zero commitment.

Ed Holden, editor