For decades, only large manufacturers had the expertise, space, and budgets for automation, but new technologies and business models are making robotics more accessible to small and midsize enterprises.
Labor shortages, the reshoring of production, competitive pressures, and government incentives are encouraging smaller businesses to evaluate and adopt robots. They are proving useful for tasks such as materials handling, piece picking, welding, and cleaning.
Companies can now scale quickly, thanks to advancements in both hardware and software. And with robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) payment models, customers may not need to make major capital investments upfront.
That’s not all. Robotics software is also evolving to provide greater visibility into operations, make robots more dextrous and agile, and gather and process data to train machine learning systems.
Download this Special Focus Issue to discover the challenges and opportunities for businesses considering robotics, including the following:
- Reshoring and robotics trends among small and midsize enterprises
- How ease-of-use features could democratize automation for smaller manufacturers
- Top robots and automation from ProMat 2023
- Collaborative robots and the RaaS model
- The importance of having an automation strategy
Co-sponsored by Mitsubishi HC Capital America.