Taking customer experience to a new level through robotics
Robots have been considered helpful supporters of humans for many years, but are still often seen as a threat. However, at least in terms of customer experience, robotics is here to stay. By supporting artificial intelligence, robotics can improve not only production, but also delivery reliability, for example.
Although numerous experiences with robotics have been handed down before, the patent for a programmable manipulator registered by George Devol in 1954 is generally regarded as the birth of the development of industrial robots. Then, as now, robotics dealt with the attempt to implement interactions of the physical world through the use of mechanical solutions in conjunction with information processing. This automates and optimizes processes such as the manufacture of products. Increasing global networking also plays a role: "Modern robots are equipped with sensors and actuators, and the information obtained from them can be processed immediately," explains Wilhelm Heckmann, Managing Director at CNT Management Consulting in Zurich, an international consulting firm focusing on digitalization. By applying artificial intelligence, industrial robots can build up an understanding of the environment, enabling them to identify future problems and associated failures at an early stage. Insights from this, moreover, are not just reserved for robots in one plant, but are distributed globally - contributing to the development of the customer experience.
Robotics promotes flexibility and customer experience
While robotics used to be used primarily to increase efficiency, robots now also support companies in the area of flexibility. "Robotics has been increasingly equipped with artificial intelligence in recent years. This also has an impact on the customer experience, as production runs more uninterrupted and, in the course of this, not only production itself but also delivery reliability is improved," Heckmann emphasizes. In addition, robotics allows real-time monitoring through connected IoT devices that link physical objects to the virtual world. As a result, information about the machine's condition is available at all times to the manufacturer, the service provider and the customer operating the machine. The resulting transparency also has an immediate positive impact on the customer experience.
Customized mass production
Especially with regard to personalized customer requests, robotics offers significant advantages, for example in the areas of (on-time) delivery or costs. The use of robots even makes adjustments in assembly line production possible, opening up completely new opportunities for companies in terms of their customer experience. "With the use of robotics, companies can flexibly adapt their products to individual customer requirements at any time, which can become a differentiating factor, especially in the face of competing companies," says Heckmann. So-called production cells, which consist of several similar machining centers combined into a single unit, make mass production particularly flexible. "If people and robots work together effectively, companies can deliver exactly what their customers want," says Heckmann, explaining the concept of customized mass production. Ultimately, this allows companies to increase not only their sales but also their profitability - while at the same time the customer benefits from short delivery times and good prices. The use of robotics also offers advantages in terms of sustainability, which is becoming increasingly important in production and purchasing: "For example, it can reduce energy costs and keep production waste and material costs low," Heckmann knows.
CNT & SAP Event in Zurich
Those who are interested in sustainability in the purchasing process will soon have the opportunity to deal with the topic in person. On June 29, 2022, CNT Management Consulting, together with Q_PERIOR and SAP, invites to the event "CNT Procurement Afterwork" at "The Circle" in Zurich. "Guests can look forward to, among other things, an exciting customer presentation by a well-known company and further valuable expertise from the procurement sector," Heckmann reveals in the run-up to the event. So anyone who wants to learn more about how the SAP Business Network can provide insight into the supply chain and thus make a positive contribution to the future themselves should find interesting information at this event.
