The strength of Switzerland’s currency, the franc, and high labor costs (CHF61.30 in 2012) have put the nation at a crossroads and ABB is expecting the country’s manufacturers to walk the path of increased automation.
The company’s chief executive officer Ulrich Spiesshofer was recently quoted by Bloomberg Business stating, “The only way for Switzerland to stay competitive in the global market in the long-term is to invest significantly in automation.”
“The removal of the cap on the Swiss franc by the central bank has also triggered more interest from Swiss companies in automation and robotics,” Spiesshofer continued.
The country’s need for increased automation does not fall outside speculations by industry experts.
Between 2010 and 2014, average worldwide sales in robotics increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The IFR also predicted about 1.3 million more industrial robots to be installed by 2018.
The world’s largest robotics manufacturers, including ABB, FANUC, KUKA and others are poised to fill the gaps of that rapidly growing market, as countries like China plan to mass-adopt industrial robots to ensure their own industry competitiveness.
Switzerland’s adoption of industrial automation, however, could also expand outside of manufacturing to areas like farming.
If Switzerland decides they want to, they could become the first country to adopt many new forms of automation and become the test-bed for an automated industrial economy.
“With people, we assume their productivity should increase every year and soon the same will apply to robots as well,” Bazmi Husain, chief technology officer for ABB was quoted as saying to Bloomberg Business.
“Intelligence within a machine will lead to more productivity gains.”
True artificial intelligence, or AI, is still far from seeing functional use in any industry. However, “intelligent” machines can be found in collaborative robots like Baxter and even optical sorting machines like Spectrim, using various forms of machine learning software.
Bloomberg Business notes ABB’s spending on R&D was at an all time high of four percent of revenue in 2015. Proceeds from planned reductions in administrations costs will also be forwarded to R&D initiatives.
For more information on ABB, visit their website www.abb.com