Hans Buch: Fewer Worries with New Automation
Automation: A large survey conducted by Universal Robots among 1200 companies points to the biggest concerns when implementing new automation. In this knowledge article, you can read about how Hans Buch can help clear some of the significant barriers.
In a published survey, Universal Robots asks why manufacturers and producers invest in technologies such as robots, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud solutions, and similar automated solutions – and what the main barriers are to implementing new technology.
With an extensive list of respondents, Universal Robots conducted a survey in the spring of 2024 with an exciting insight into manufacturers’ views on new technologies. Among the 1195 participants, 569 large companies and 278 SMEs were represented from Europe and North America. Of these, 358 participants were marked as decision-makers.
Read much more about the survey from Universal Robots here: “Survey Insights: How Manufacturers are Embracing Technology in 2024“
In the survey, the nearly 1200 respondents were asked, among other things, what prevented them from investing further in new technology. Hans Buch has delved into the answers to address some of the most significant concerns, which we believe we can help the broader industry with.
Industry barriers to automation can be broken by Hans Buch
In the next sections, you will get a selection of some of the challenges that the survey results point to, and which Hans Buch has many years of experience solving for our customers in the broad industry. With our business area Automation & Robotics, new technologies and new opportunities for unique applications have arrived.
ROI is the biggest concern: Hans Buch helps with calculations based on your data
Nearly a third (32.9%) of the survey’s 1200 respondents had concerns about the business case for investing in new technology: “When will we see the effect of our investment?”
The payback period (ROI, return on investment) is a point that most companies question when new technology is ready to come in the door – if the business case is convincing.
When you implement new technology, as a customer of Hans Buch, you can get help calculating the payback period of your investment, so you as a company always have the best starting point to make decisions about sustainable investments. We help provide you with a realistic estimate of when your investment will start to be profitable.
Lack of know-how is the second biggest concern – Hans Buch ensures training of your employees
With more than one in five respondents (21.5%), the second biggest barrier to implementing new technology is the lack of knowledge about using the technology and know-how to operate the machine.
At Hans Buch, we always ensure to meet any need for customer assistance in upskilling and training employees when new machines move in. With our extensive network of suppliers, consisting of some of the most recognized in their respective fields, we set your team in the scene with the manufacturer and our own sales engineers to instruct and train your employees in the use of the new technologies.
Concerns about safety are dispelled with Hans Buch’s technical advice
With 21.1%, safety concerns are the third most chosen answer for barriers to investing in new technology among the 1200 participants who took part in the survey.
A well-known and recurring theme in Hans Buch’s technical solutions is about safety. It is at the core of our technical advice and delivery of technical solutions that safety is always in order and according to applicable regulations where necessary.
Hans Buch offers a comprehensive range of technical solutions in safety, which includes safety light curtains, safety scanners, drive solutions, and controllers.
Concern about the lack of an integrator with an understanding of business and technology: Hans Buch immerses itself in your entire business
A total of 18.8% of the 1200 respondents answered that they have not invested in new technology because they lacked a reliable or available integrator with an understanding of their business and an understanding of how technology is used.
At Hans Buch, we take pride in having a deep understanding of the customer’s challenges and business. We work closely with our customers on their wishes for price optimization, life extension, and unique configurations.
Our core competencies include our ability to combine our wide range of products into unique applications across suppliers and their technologies. We are also aware that our contribution to our customers’ applications is part of an even larger setup consisting of a technically complex ecosystem.
Therefore, as a customer of Hans Buch, you always get integrable solutions that not only interact among our own multifaceted technical solutions but also always work with the other components in your total solutions.
Excerpt: What the respondents answered about their attitude towards automation
Through six chapters, the survey from Universal Robots provides in-depth insight into manufacturers’ approaches to new automation technologies in 2024.
The companies represent a larger cross-section of the broad industry in Europe and North America, ranging from industrial manufacturing to the healthcare industry, the food and beverage industry, and the automotive industry. Here you get an excerpt with two of the chapters with an indication of how many of the nearly 1200 respondents marked a range of topics within barriers and motivation for implementing new technology:
Barriers
“What has prevented you from investing further in new technology?”
- 32.9%: Concern about ROI.
- 21.5%: Application challenges / Lack of know-how.
- 21.1%: Safety concerns.
- 21.0%: Fear of disrupting current processes.
- 20.0%: Concern about compliance with industry laws and regulations.
- 18.8%: Lack of available/reliable integrators with business and technology understanding.
- 17.5%: Lack of time to prioritize purchasing and implementation processes.
- 17.3%: Employee hesitation or resistance.
- 12.4%: Poor experiences with previous technology investments that were not successful.
The biggest motivations
“Which factors are most important for your business when considering implementing new technology?”
- 47.0%: Ease of use.
- 44.4%: Reliability and quality of output.
- 30.7%: Flexibility and scalability (modularity).
- 26.1%: Sustainability.
- 24.8%: Quick implementation.
- 24.5%: Predictable quality and maintenance.
- 19.4%: Connectivity options to other devices or systems.
- 14.9%: Remote monitoring.
- 11.3%: Safe human-machine interaction.
- 0.5%: Other.
Source: “Survey Insights: How Manufacturers are Embracing Technology in 2024 (Universal Robots)
Find a link to the entire survey further up in this knowledge article.
