Robo with her mechanical hand kicks off the ‘Robo Trix for Assembly Technology on Tour’ campaign yesterday. She will tour industrial estates nationwide ahead of the Assembly Technology Fair organised by Reed Tradex in June.

Djitt Laowattana, an adviser to the Information and Communications Technology Ministry and president of the Institute of Field Robotics (Fibo), said yesterday the project had already passed a first Cabinet screening committee and would be proposed to a second screening committee tomorrow before being forwarded to the Cabinet for final approval.

Under the first part of the project, PhD graduates in robotics will be sent to the United States for 18 months to get first-hand experience at leading plants. Djitt has already approached Western Digital and Seagate and is negotiating with other companies including Fujitsu and Hitachi about taking the trainees. He plans to send 200 abroad during a five-year period.

Three research centres will be set up at Bangmod, Lat Krabang and Fibo to conduct joint studies with companies in Silicon Valley, starting with 80 topics. The aim is to demonstrate to those companies that Thailand has started to devote its energy to developing native technology industries.

Exchanges will be arranged between organisations and research institutes, while an undergraduate curriculum in magnetism will be put together.

The government has gradually realised the importance of nourishing human resources in order to develop technology that would increase the production capability of all businesses, which would help sharpen the competitiveness of the whole country amid fierce global competition with emerging economies such as China and Vietnam, Djitt said. Robotic and automation systems are gaining in significance, especially now that the global economy tends to be more liberated. Local companies have to do battle not only with multinational companies in global markets but also with foreign firms that locate here, he added.

In Thailand, 60 per cent of all robotic and automation systems are used by automobile manufacturers and assemblers, said Chaiyot Piyawannarat, president and country manager for power, automation and robotic systems at manufacturer ABB.

Companies in other industries such as consumer products and food are also increasingly turning to the systems. Using the systems not only helps workers avoid dangerous manufacturing processes but also provides better performance with more delicate and precise jobs.

Djitt said the domestic robotic systems market was worth Bt10 billion.

Robotic systems are not appropriate for every industry since labour costs are still considerably low compared to robotics costs, Chaiyot said. Manufacturers need to know what they want to use robot and automation systems for and what outcome they expect from the systems because they require steep investment.

But those who are in technology industries cannot avoid following and using robotic and automation systems because many of these industries require consistent high-quality work, high accuracy, precise outcomes and delicate jobs that are beyond human capacity.

Trade fair organiser Reed Tradex has joined with many organisations such as Fibo to arrange the first Assembly Arms @ Automation World at the Bangkok Trade and Exhibition Centre from June 21-24.

The exhibition will feature over 400 companies from around the world and is expected to attract 45,000 visitors and facilitate Bt1 billion in transactions.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation