Experts discussed the prospects of using robotics in construction
Up to 55% of human labor in construction can be automated. This is the conclusion reached by the McKinsey Global Institute based on the results of a large-scale study. The data was announced by Dmitry Ipanov, CEO of Vector Group, during the webinar "Application of robotics in Construction", organized by 100+ TechnoBuild together with the National Association of Robotics Market Participants.
According to Dmitry Ipanov, the main prerequisites for automating work processes are danger to people, monotony and heavy physical exertion.
"Starting in 2009, by 2021, the number of industrial robots in use in the world is projected to increase 10–fold, from 60,000 to 630,000 units,– said Dmitry Ipanov. – At the same time, the average cost of a robot fell by 17% from 2012 to 2017. Singapore, Germany and South Korea are among the leaders in usage. Russia is at the very bottom of the list with an indicator of 5 robots per 10,000 employees. Until recently, this number fluctuated around three or four. We are growing, but we are still far from market leaders, which indicates our enormous potential. Robots are being actively introduced and used in almost all areas."
At the same time, construction is far from being at the forefront of robotics. Processing of materials leads the way (35.4%), followed by welding (28.9%) and assembly (13%).
In construction, automation is used primarily in palletizing goods (corrugated boxes, bags, boxes), in welding (inserts, brackets, frames of prefabricated buildings), as well as in equipment maintenance (TFO, coating lines), said Mikhail Kolodko, the leading manager of the Department of robotics equipment at OOO Weber Comechanics.
CEO of Aripix Robotics Andrey Spiridonov said that on average their company needs 3-6 months to replace people with robots. However, sometimes it is economically more profitable to retain employees, so each situation is considered individually. With a positive outcome, one robot can take the place of an average of three workers. For routine jobs, the staff can be reduced to 70%. At the same time, the robot can work around the clock and increase production by up to 20%. The risk of injury is significantly reduced. The payback period for such a solution is one to two years.
Ratibor Konovalyuk, Director of Development at MGK Intechros, added that hydraulic engineering robots occupy a large market share. About 80-90% of them are dismantling robots, the remaining 10-20% are robots for laying or erecting partitions.
"On the one hand, the pandemic is slowing down the growth rate of the construction industry, but on the other, our customers are reorienting to use conceptually new types of equipment, such as the dismantling robot," he said.
Among the advantages of such robots are greater resistance to aggressive environments, less noise, and the elimination of vibration sickness. In addition, one robot can replace 8-10 workers in terms of productivity.
According to Ratibor Konovalyuk, the main factors that are holding back the growth of the use of robots in the Russian construction market are insufficient awareness and limited financing.
Recording of the webinar: