Robots reduce costs

Whilst One Finance have seen a move to automation across many manufacturing sectors even prior to COVID, interest in ‘robots vs employees’ is a growing topic in many circles. 

Not only is manufacturing seeing increased implementation but in the US almost every sector is giving it consideration including distribution, retail, restaurants and other personal and government services.

Staff writer at the LA Times, Don Lee writes an interesting article that mobile robots used for spraying disinfectant chemicals are being deployed instead of janitors. The Pennsylvania Turnpike eliminated toll collection by hand and switched to a cashless electronic system.

Orders for robots in North America, mostly the U.S., surged 20% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. This was up 19% again on the previous 2019 year.  

Deployment of robots in the retail sector is the next stage in reducing costs from the likes of self-service checkouts and this trend is set to continue. Stock re-plenishing to overnight aisle cleaning is the next phase.

One Finance is keeping up with these trends and have already funded many robots as well as other forms of automation (lifting tables, loading-unloading pallet racking, conveyors, panel returns, full ‘lights-out’ machinery packages) in and around machinery over the years. Where this works best is not total replacement but alongside staff. Re-deploying staff in more productive areas of the business is a driver and the savvy business owner can stay ahead of the competition if they get ahead of the curve.