To help UK manufacturers build a business case for investing in robots, Intertronics has released a new whitepaper, Achieving ROI with robotics.

Based on in house expertise and contributions from Mike Wilson, chief automation officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the piece discusses why the UK sits below the global average for robot density and what the industry can do about it. The outcomes of the roundtable discussion are available to read on the Intertronics website.

The benefits of robotics are compelling, improved productivity, efficiency, output, quality, and flexibility. In addition to their production benefits, they can improve health and safety and job satisfaction for employees.

However, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) World Robot Report in 2021 found that the UK has a robot density of 101 robots per 10,000 employees, below the global average of 126. The Republic of Korea, for example, has more than seven times as many robots per 10,000 people as in the UK, while Germany, Europe’s leader in robot density, has three times as many. In 2021, robot installations across Europe were up 24% to 4,302 units, but down by 7% to 2,054 units in the UK.

So why is the UK’s uptake behind other nations? One possible barrier to robotics is a lack of understanding of return on investment (ROI) and concerns about upfront cost. Achieving ROI with robotics was written to address this, by helping companies to build an ROI equation, busting common dispensing robot myths, and sharing customer success stories.

Peter Swanson, managing director of Intertronics, said: “In the UK market, dominated by SMEs, one of the main barriers to robot adoption is understanding of ROI and how to make a business case. Combined with the general productivity and quality benefits of robots, market conditions and the current tax advantageous environment, makes now a good time to consider investing in dispensing automation. Interestingly, many of our customers are able to benefit from a short payback period, perhaps even a few months. In these cases, even lack of capital should not be a problem.”Novo Nordisk believes that digital health solutions can support people with diabetes and their healthcare professionals with reliable information. We are proud to be working alongside a wide range of partners to help bring digital health solutions to as many people as possible.