Hands-On Cobots in Practice: Potentials, Applications and Further Training Requirements from the Universal Robots Perspective

by Andrea Alboni (General Manager Western Europe) and Sven Krüger (Global Master Trainer, Industry Program, both: Universal Robots (Germany) GmbH)
from the handbook Digital Competence and Future Skills
The invention and continuous development of cobots comes at a time of significant and far-reaching social and economic change. Companies are faced with increasing difficulties in finding qualified personnel. The cause is the shortage of labor, driven by demographic change. On the other hand, automation is still insufficiently anchored in the mindsets of many people working in manufacturing, or even has a negative connotation. Perceived as a foreign body, competitor, or job killer - the prejudices are characterized by the fear of losing one's job and are rooted in the lack of training and competence transfer in the automation field. Although digitalization and automation are no longer a future vision, young people are not adequately prepared before they start their careers in terms of what very likely awaits them later.
In this context, this chapter emphasis the need and potential approaches for developing robotics skills. Pupils and students need to gain the skills they need for tomorrow's workforce. This calls for a constant exchange between schools, training companies and robot manufacturers. After all, the young people, who are now starting their apprenticeships are the skilled workers that many companies so urgently need.
The handbook Digital Competence and Future Skills provides comprehensive insight into the future of competencies and learning and the transformation of business. For the first time, leading companies from a wide range of industries around the world provide concrete insights into their comprehensive approaches to transformation, competence management, culture change, and learning and development. In addition, leading scientists and institutions use the latest research findings to assess where we are today and what is to come in the future.
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A world where people work with robots, not like them - that is Andrea Albonis vision for the future. As General Manager Western Europe at Universal Robots, he is already actively working to make this a reality. His mission: to support small and medium-sized enterprises in overcoming challenges such as labor shortages and cost pressures. And to show them how easily they can take the step towards automated production with collaborative robots, the cobots. The native Italian looks back on ten years of sales experience. Before joining Universal Robots, he held senior sales positions at Webasto Thermo & Comfort and the power technology manufacturer SFC Energy. An economist by training, he graduated from the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy). Joining Universal Robots in 2019 as Channel Developer, he quickly made a convincing impression, becoming Regional Sales Manager and finally, in December 2020, General Manager for the Western Europe region, one of the most important sales markets of the cobot pioneer. With passion and technical know-how, Alboni has since been committed to the development and use of collaborative robotics.