The Internet of Things (IoT) and the ability to connect and collect data through robotics is impacting virtually every operation in the beverage industry. As busy beverage warehouses handle burgeoning SKUs and manpower shortages continue, repetitive robotics-related functions are filling the gaps.
In fact, collaborative robots, or “cobots” now are the fastest growing segment of industrial automation, expected to jump ten-fold to 34 percent of all industrial robot sales by 2025, says Stuart Shepherd, regional sales director of Universal Robots USA, Ann Arbor, Mich., citing the International Federation of Robotics.