The device is intelligent in the sense that it has embedded monitoring and sensing capabilities.

Robots are natural partners for manufacturing houses. They play a major role in automating manufacturing solutions to enhance efficiency, safety and competitive advantage in the market. However, the other half of the business cycle is a supply chain that is slowly moving towards digitization. Emerging technological trends suggest that the supply chain could be enriched with the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT).

Robots fill numerous roles in manufacturing that are commonly needed for high-volume, repetitive processes, where speed, accuracy, and durability offer unparalleled advantages. Other robots help human workers in manufacturing houses with more intricate tasks. Industrial robots have been speeding up operations, as well as core processes smarter and cheaper for years now. According to a recent report by PwC, around 59% of the manufacturing is already using some form of robotics technology. For example, Tesla Gigafactory is one of the most advanced factories that use robots for navigation purposes. Robots self-navigate through Autonomous Indoor Vehicles (AIVs) freely without beacons or magnets guiding them. Their major responsibility is to shift goods between workstations. Ultimately, the new trend in business is to automate the whole cycle including supply chain.

What is Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT)?

The concept of the Internet of Robotics Things (IoRT) is that the intelligent devices can monitor events, fuse sensor data from a variety of sources, use local and distributed intelligence to determine the best course of action, and then act to control or manipulate objects in the physical world, and in some cases while physically moving through the world. The device is intelligent in the sense that it has embedded monitoring and sensing capabilities, and at the same time can get sensor data from other sources which are fused for the acting purpose of the device. Here are the components of IoRT,

• Intelligent device robots are embedded with monitoring capabilities and additional sensor data from other sources.
• The device can leverage local and distributed intelligence by analyzing data from the monitored event.
• It is a fusion of various sensor data with intelligence to determine actions.

The Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) market was valued at US$3.89 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to reach US$21.44 billion by 2022, with a CAGR of 29.7% during the forecast period.

IoRT in Supply Chain

A supply chain is a network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. This network includes different activities, people, entities, information, and resources. In recent years, robotics is the major mechanism that is a stooping supply chain. Starting from the movement of products within the warehouse to distributing it to consumers, robotics has invaded a large number of tasks.

Manufacturing, transportation, and logistics companies, which are involved in the supply chain, use IoRT as a source to automate the functions. Robotics helps the supply chain by streamlining operations through developing process-driven automated functions, simplifying processes and working at a tireless pace to meet ever-increasing demands. As people’s need increases, manufacturing houses should also be ready to fast-track the process of delivery. IoRT is capable of lifting high weights and can do continuous jobs without taking a break like humans. For example, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are becoming the main source of the movement of products inside the warehouse. They navigate and transport products from one corner to the other seven days a week. It also keeps away the chances of error.