A Gartner survey of supply chain practitioners conducted between August and October 2023 revealed that the best-performing supply chain organizations are making productivity, rather than efficiency or cost reduction, their primary focus to maintain business momentum over the next three years.
According to IndustryARC, adaptability and simplicity of integration into existing infrastructure are two attributes that will continue to drive the autonomous mobile robot (AMR) market. The consulting firm predicts that Asia Pacific will see the highest CAGR of 22.6% for robots used for both heavy and light tasks, delivering supplies to human workers, and conducting security and safety checks.
Benchmark International’s 2024 Global Robotics Industry Report cites four trends that will impact the use of robots in the automotive, manufacturing, medical, agricultural and domestic sectors, including robot development with enhanced AI, better human-robot interaction, autonomous capabilities and customization of robotic solutions to meet specific needs.
The International Federation of Robotics adds to these lists, adding mobile manipulation, digital twins, and humanoids as top robotics trends for 2024.
All these trends bode well for Asia’s logistics, warehousing and manufacturing industries, where issues such as labour shortages, productivity and increasingly sophisticated customer preferences are forcing companies to look to a blend of automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve these problems before the next crisis hits.
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are expected to contribute to improving business efficiency in companies. The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) has commented that the introduction of AMRs will enable companies to optimize their human resources through flexible deployment and focus on innovation.
IMDA aims to accelerate the adoption of AMR by enabling seamless operations across both indoor and outdoor spaces, collaborating with ecosystem partners and promoting international best practices.
Poi Toong Tang, vice president of APAC sales at Mobile Industrial Robots, believes autonomous mobile robots can solve some of these challenges. Thinking back to the repetitive, monotonous tasks often found on manufacturing floors and logistics environments, he believes these tasks can be automated with AMRs.
AMRs “will help solve the current labor shortage challenges and achieve productivity, especially when you want precise, high-quality delivery and accurate output. I think the machines can do that well,” he continued.
Autonomy over automation
Logistics giant DHL says AMRs, combined with artificial intelligence, machine learning and enhanced sensor technology, can navigate smoothly through today’s state-of-the-art warehouses. AMRs can independently learn their environment, avoid obstacles and communicate for maximum safety and efficiency.
While acknowledging previous technologies have limitations, Tan said AMRs bring additional benefits to end customers: They can solve labor shortages because they can perform tasks without the need for human intervention, he said.
He also said that because space is at a premium in many parts of Asia, AMRs are not tied to fixed routes, which is common with older technologies such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs).
Integrating AMR into existing operations
It’s important to note that robot interoperability is crucial to successfully integrating the new generation of AMRs into existing production sites. Tan says the starting point is a company’s vision of what their manufacturing environment will look like.
“What is the perspective and goal of how a logistics warehouse should operate to provide greater agility and competitiveness to its customers,” he argues. “You need to set goals and a vision. You need a blueprint. You need a multi-year blueprint. Test that blueprint with feasibility studies, proofs of concept (POCs) and pilots before you scale.”
He concludes that AMR is about thinking big but starting small and then scaling up.
Where companies stumble in their AMR efforts
As with many emerging technologies before, organizations should proceed with caution when considering integrating AMRs into their operations. Looking at his customers, Tang acknowledges that those who rush to adopt AMRs will fail.
“They think the new technology is the same as other very mature legacy technologies like industrial robotics, which means they take a waterfall approach without any feasibility studies or proofs of concept.
“They just write up a specification and open up the bidding, and then when suppliers bid on it and come in, they might find that it’s not what they want after all.
“That’s where it gets tricky. I always advise my clients to take their time. Some of our clients take as long as a year from the date they start doing feasibility studies and demos to doing POCs and small pilots to starting to talk about scale. If you avoid that journey, you’re going to run into problems,” he continued.
After POC and initial deployment
During post-implementation integration, how can organizations ensure their AMR investments continue to deliver value as technical processes and regulatory personnel get involved?
Tan believes the blueprint needs to include “set KPIs.” “At the end of the day, a robot is a robot. It might be very attractive to an engineer, but if it doesn’t bring value to the company, it doesn’t bring any financial impact. That’s not a good thing.”
“Set the right KPIs, set clear goals that are measurable within a specific time frame, and clearly map out what you’re trying to achieve. That way you’ll really reap the benefits to ensure success. And then along the way, if you start to see issues with the end state in mind, you can still adjust and tweak and ultimately achieve your goal.”
Poi Tung Tan
AI in AMR
Tan believes AI will have a positive impact on the world of AMRs. He believes it will help make robots more intelligent. He gives the example of the MiR 1200 pallet jack, which uses AI to get under pallets and position itself to pick them up at the right spot. “This is where AI technology comes in,” he adds.
Over time, as the machines learn the routines, Tan believes efficiency will improve: “It will be much faster to calculate, much faster to plan, which will result in shorter cycle times to the customer,” he said, concluding that AMRs can help companies improve productivity.
