NEW YORK, NY—As a wave of Baby Boomers reach retirement age during the next five years, collaborative robots will help manufacturers cope with the skills gap. According to ABI Research, demand for cobots will grow 28 percent annually between now and 2030.

“Companies that take a step back will view the demographic shifts as an opportunity to revamp processes and operations,” says Michael Larner, distinguished analyst at ABI Research. “It is not about technology filling former employees’ roles, but how technology augments people’s working lives.

“The nature of manufacturing work will change with roles for robot programmers and for developing models for machine learning tools coming to the fore,” predicts Larner.

“For manufacturers, one of the biggest concerns with Baby Boomers heading for retirement is the loss of tribal knowledge, such as the detailed knowledge of equipment, processes and customers,” warns Larner, “Manufacturers must capture that tribal knowledge as employees head for retirement as part of a workforce planning strategy.

“Improving mentoring and knowledge sharing processes are just as important as investments in digital technologies for manufacturers to thrive in the coming years,” says Larner.

According to ABI Research, improved safety, lower costs and easier accessibility will drive collaborative robot sales in the near future. In particular, the automotive industry is predicted to pace the market, with cobot shipments growing from 13,000 in 2023 to 115,000 by 2030.

“Cobots are at the forefront of the robotics revolution,” claims George Chowdhury, robotics industry analyst at ABI Research. “They have the potential to democratize automation and bring robots into new markets, working side-by-side with human workers to unlock economic growth.

“Cobots have a synergy with artificial intelligence,” explains Chowdhury. “[Manufacturers] have leveraged the two technologies combined to automate tasks which have, until now, been exclusively reserved for human workers.

‘Moreover, the more affordable cost and safety of cobots create an opportunity for small and medium enterprises to adopt robotics, unlocking major productivity advantages for broad sectors of the economy,” Chowdhury points out. “[The machines] can revolutionize industries from medicine to agriculture by augmenting human workers with AI value-adds.”