A Robotics Revolution:
What Automation Means for Facilities Managers
By Michel Spruijt, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Brain Corp.
With a global pandemic in the rearview mirror, facilities are recovering and looking ahead to an uncertain future. New technologies have arrived to ease the transition. Chief among these has been intelligent robots, specifically those equipped with reporting and analytics capabilities.
Facilities, warehouses, and retail stores, all have seen significant and rapid changes in a relatively short amount of time. The figures are undeniable: The IFR reports that there are now on average 126 robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industries – nearly double the number from five years ago.
Robotics were steadily advancing into utilities before 2020, but the sudden drive for heightened cleanliness and workforce support accelerated automation adoption. A beneficial side effect of this shift has been the growth in usable data to inform improved facilities management.
With change comes adaptation, and no one has had to adapt more radically to this overhaul than managers. Facilities Managers now have more technology at their disposal than was recently the case, which means that they are now working with an unprecedented amount of data. But this shouldn’t be cause for concern; the data boom brought on by automation presents an opportunity for those who know how to harness it.
The Role Of Robots
Owing to endemic staff shortages, the demand for social distancing, and a heightened need for cleanliness, facilities have deployed robots at breakneck speed enabling workers to focus on higher value tasks while their robot co-workers - or co-bots - successfully take on repetitive or hazardous roles.
Human staff remain essential in effective robot deployments. Staff oversee, maintain, and direct machines, ensuring that machines are applied intelligently within the context of a given business. Modern autonomous cleaning robots, for example, need a human user to “teach” the machine its routes before it operates autonomously.
Human workers are also needed in the uncommon event of a machine encountering an obstacle which it cannot find its way around. Owing to new and improved user interfaces, the setting up and training of machines is easily taken care of by non-technical staff, who can activate robots without the need for extra infrastructure requirements or extensive training. This synergy between robots and workers is one obvious reason why automation has become a key part of facilities management.
Making Use Of AI
Understandably, robotics have been sought out for their ability to make operations more efficient, which consequently gives staff back time in their day. However, the upshot of more automated operations goes beyond efficiency gains. Robots are now producing more information than ever; as a result facilities managers have an unprecedented view of their operations and can thus adjust their workplace systems like never before.
Automation strategies can involve multiple robotic machines -- floor scrubbers, vacuums, in-store delivery and inventory analytics – all working in unison across a given facility. Robot data can all be accessed through a centralised cloud-connected AI platform. With multiple units feeding data into this central ‘brain’, it is possible to use data as a key management resource.
Modern autonomous robots generate performance data whilst carrying out their tasks, which can be visualised, analysed and used to inform better decision making. Managers can track real-time data created by machines and use that to optimise operations throughout a store or facility. Automation has inadvertently solidified the link between task management and operations planning.
A Bird’s Eye View
When deployed sensitively and intelligently, synergetic technology has the power to advance facility operations. This not only benefits the safety of workers, but also brings managers closer to the holy grail of a fully optimised workplace.
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