As global production demand surges, the real challenge for manufacturers today isn’t simply keeping up, but the building of resilient, responsive systems that enable them to stay ahead. At the same time, developed economies are facing a steep decline in working-age populations, with fewer skilled workers now available – and this outlook appears set to remain the case for the next decade. This demographic shift is also placing additional pressures on manufacturers to meet growing demand given the pool of labour is shrinking.
Addressing this issue will require smarter, more flexible automation solutions that can bridge talent gaps and drive sustainable growth. Europe, with its rich industrial heritage, deep engineering talent, and growing policy support, is uniquely positioned to lead the next era of automation.
Today, automation – robotics in particular – is emerging as a powerful enabler of innovation, resilience and growth. While over 4.2 million robots now operate in factories worldwide, the transformative power of automation lies not in numbers, but in the intelligence of their capabilities. Such intelligence is taking shape through physical AI, which is the embedding of perception, reasoning, and decision-making directly into robotic systems.
Collaborative robots (cobots) are playing an increasingly vital role here. The global cobot market is projected to grow from $1.42 billion in 2025 to $3.38 billion by 2030. Once valued primarily for their safety and ease of use, cobots are evolving rapidly. With the integration of physical AI, they are becoming faster, smarter, and more capable – combining precision and speed with safe human collaboration. This makes them ideal for dynamic, high-mix production environments.
By embracing smarter, more flexible automation, manufacturers can unlock new levels of efficiency, boost productivity and create scalable operations that evolve with market shifts. This evolution is reshaping how manufacturers approach productivity and agility – no longer reacting to change, but anticipating it.
Embedding intelligence for adaptive automation
As automation becomes smarter, the competitive edge is shifting from rigid efficiency to responsive, flexible operations. Embedding intelligence into automation systems enables manufacturers to respond to production variability – not just with speed, but with strategic agility.
By design, cobots are adaptable, and serve as blank operational templates which can be tailored, trained and optimised to specific manufacturing needs. Unlike traditional industrial robots that use rigid, pre-defined instructions, AI-enhanced cobots can continuously learn and adapt, emulating human learning processes at a significantly faster pace.
Physical AI empowers cobots to go beyond repeatable tasks and engage in nuanced decision-making – adjusting to variations in parts, changing workflows, or disruptions on the line – all without human intervention or reprogramming.
This continuous learning loop is key. Cobots are no longer static tools, but responsive collaborators – capable of evolving alongside the needs of the business. As a result, manufacturers gain not just automation, but a flexible foundation for scalable, data-driven operations.
This shift from fixed-function tools to intelligent systems is already shaping investment strategies. The growing investment in AI, reflected by the 82 per cent of manufacturers planning to increase budgets in 2025, signals a clear direction: the future of automation lies in systems that can think, learn and adapt in lockstep with the 'real' world.
Balancing speed and collaboration
The dual requirement of speed and safety has become central to manufacturing challenges today, particularly as cobots evolve with AI.
As production processes grow more complex, maintaining high performance without compromising worker safety is essential.
With 68 per cent of UK manufacturers compelled to prioritise productivity enhancements in response to rising operational costs and fiscal pressures, integrating AI-driven technologies has become more pressing than ever.
Traditional industrial robots were once confined within safety cages, built for high-volume, repetitive tasks in isolated environments. Cobots have fundamentally redefined this model, enabling a level of human-robot interaction previously unattainable. This shift is especially valuable in today’s dynamic manufacturing floors, where conditions are rarely uniform, and many tasks require both precision and adaptability.
Modern cobots combine impressive speed and precision with advanced safety capabilities, transforming production workflows to become more efficient. In fact, human-robot collaboration can reduce idle time by up to 85 per cent, and boost productivity by up to four times. The ability to operate safely at higher speeds eliminates the need for precautionary slowdowns, while their collaborative design enables safe work alongside humans without costly protective barriers.
Equipped with advanced proximity sensors, force-limiting systems and real-time motion control, cobots can instantly detect human presence, slowing down when needed and stopping altogether to prevent injury.
The ability to combine speed with safe, intelligent interaction enables manufacturers to optimise productivity without compromising workplace wellbeing. Designed for seamless human-robot collaboration, cobots eliminate many of the complexities typically associated with traditional robots. Their intuitive programming interfaces and built-in safety features have made automation accessible to a wider range of manufacturers, particularly first-time users and smaller to medium enterprises (SMEs).
Designed for rapid deployment
The manufacturing sector’s operational paradigm has shifted toward flexible, scalable automation that responds to evolving demands. Businesses no longer seek rigid, one-size-fits-all systems. They want automation that adapts.
In a climate shaped by supply chain disruptions, evolving customer expectations, and geopolitical uncertainty, responding at speed in an agile way is critical. This may mean adjusting production entirely, switching between products, or expanding capacity as needed.
Modular solutions are required that can easily scale, reconfigure or upgrade at low cost, making adaptability not just convenient, but essential for resilience.
Engineered to be compact and lightweight, cobots integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, requiring minimal space, and enabling rapid redeployment across different workstations. Compact systems like these provide agility, which is important for industries where production lines frequently change. Rather than relying on monolithic, fixed installations, manufacturers can use modular cobots to build adaptable workstations in response to different demands.
Cobots may be lightweight, but they pack heavyweight performance for demanding industrial tasks. Despite a compact size, modern cobots can handle payloads ranging from a few to several tens of kilograms.
Whether it's dynamically sorting and packing components on a fast-moving assembly line, or navigating complex warehouse layouts with AI-driven precision, systems are designed to handle substantial workloads that were once reserved for much larger, fixed machinery. Their design empowers manufacturers to boost productivity without compromising space or efficiency.
Unlocking the next generation of robotics
The future of automation is no longer defined by trade-offs between speed, safety and intelligence. It’s about uniting all three through next-generation robotics.
Today’s cobots are smarter, more adaptive and faster than ever, offering manufacturers unprecedented opportunities to build production environments that are not only safe and flexible, but also human-centric.
Technology alone cannot drive this transformation, though. Europe’s strength lies in its thriving robotics ecosystem: a collaborative network of developers, integrators and end users. This ecosystem fuels innovation and accelerates the deployment of AI-powered cobots by fostering collaboration and open solutions across industries.
By working together, we are not only building smarter machines, but creating a scalable, flexible infrastructure that can help manufacturers. Cutting-edge physical AI, combined with a strong collaborative ecosystem, is powering this new frontier of robotics – accelerating progress without compromise.
Anders Billesø Beck, VP of Technology at Universal Robots.
