Transition to combined production of combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles

"Automotive manufacturers are aware that advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies are driving change," emphasizes Jörg Reger, Head of Business Line Automotive at ABB Robotics. "These technologies are essential building blocks of 'smart factories' that will help car manufacturers to introduce new models faster and more cost-effectively, significantly reduce energy consumption and costs and achieve sustainability goals."

The benefits of increased use of innovative manufacturing technologies - from AI-driven autonomous mobile robots (AMR) delivering parts to the assembly line to digital twin technologies - were particularly highlighted in the latest survey. The survey thus once again underlines the importance of robotics and automation. 64% of respondents agreed that the use of autonomous mobile robots in automotive production will increase. 57% were of the opinion that more collaborative robots (cobots) will be used alongside humans on factory floors to perform repetitive assembly tasks.

In addition, generative AI and software solutions can represent a major leap for the industry: 82% agreed that the use of these technologies has the potential to reduce manufacturing costs, improve quality and accelerate the introduction of new models. A significant increase is also expected for other key technologies - digital twin and simulation - with 73% of respondents anticipating greater use.

It also shows that flexible production is a decisive lever for mastering the complex challenges that many well-known manufacturers have to face. These include unpredictable demand for certain vehicle types with electric, hybrid and combustion engines. Manufacturers are challenged to assemble different powertrains at a single site while maintaining faster product lifecycles. 84% of respondents said that flexible manufacturing will be an important factor for vehicle manufacturing in the next five years.

"Flexible manufacturing is crucial when it comes to overcoming the very complex and also financial challenges that many car manufacturers face. This is where we at ABB Robotics have done pioneering work for our customers," adds Jörg Reger. "If demand for a particular model suddenly increases or a new powertrain is available, additional and different manufacturing capacity can be added quickly in a modular way without having to interrupt production or make significant investments."

While respondents are in favor of introducing new technologies and view the smart factory of the future positively, they are also aware of some of the challenges involved. High initial costs (54%) were seen as the biggest obstacle, while technical challenges (35%), cyber security and data protection (32%) played a role, as did workforce skills (32%) and the lack of qualified employees (28%).

"The industry is optimistic about change and recognizes the technologies that offer the best solutions - including autonomous mobile robots, cobots and artificial intelligence," says Daniel Harrison, Chief Analyst at Automotive Manufacturing Solutions. "However, as we move towards smart automotive factories, the human factor must not be overlooked. Respondents again expressed concerns about workforce skills and the perceived shortage of IT-skilled employees. The industry's technology partners have an important role to play in training and education and finding ways to introduce key advances such as AI technology in a non-disruptive and understandable way."

The integration of AI into robotics is an important focus at ABB Robotics. The company places a particular focus on programming in natural language. T-Robotics and Mbodi were recognized as winners of ABB's AI Start-Up Challenge 2024. T-Robotics enables natural conversation while maintaining precision. Mbodi's platform enables robots to learn through spoken language and adapt to new tasks.

Progress is also being made in autonomous navigation. ABB's AMRs with Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (Visual SLAM) technology perceive their environment, make decisions in real time and semantically distinguish between humans and objects. This means they can navigate autonomously within automotive production while performing tasks such as tracking inventory, sharing this information with other robots and working safely side-by-side with humans.