October 20 (BTA) - Half of the Bulgarian industrial companies that participated in a study by the Professional Association of Robotics and Automation (PARA) said that the pandemic has negatively affected their plans for investment in automation. About 41 per cent answered that they will delay such endeavours, and 9 per cent will postpone them. Half of the car companies fall under these figures, according to the authors of the study.

For 38 per cent of companies the pandemic has not had a negative impact, on the contrary - 19 per cent of them say that it has accelerated automation processes. These include representatives of the chemical industry, smart home sensors, manufacturers of microelectronics.

The data are from a PARA study of the automation sector in the Bulgarian industry in times of a pandemic, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday. The survey is not representative, it covers 32 companies, producers of automotive components, furniture, electronics, mechanical engineering, etc., which employ just under 15 thousand employees.

Some 44 per cent of respondents said they are considering implementing software and discrete automation. These include the industries related to the production of automotive components, cosmetics, household appliances, mechanical engineering, automation and energy efficiency.

A total of 22 per cent said that they would implement mainly discrete automation, including companies that produce furniture, those from the food industry and the manufacturing of gaming and casino equipment. One third of companies considering the implementation of software automation are in the furniture industry, the dairy industry and aluminum extrusion.

The main motives for companies' investments in robotic systems are quality, cost optimization and shortage of manpower. The number of companies that chose labour shortage as the main motive for automation is increasing compared to those who responded last year (six companies in 2019, compared to 14 in 2020). Nearly 44 per cent of the companies in the survey are experiencing a shortage of labour.

Some 75 per cent or 24 companies want to automate selected processes in the next three years, while last year that number was 7 companies or 13.5 per cent.

Companies that would invest up to 100,000 leva in automation are up by 5.5 per cent. The percentages remain relatively close to the previous survey, in which 17.3 per cent had set aside between 100,000 and 300,000 leva for automation. This year, 15.6 per cent have planned the same budget for the next three years. Companies that have automation budgets below 500,000 leva were 44.3 per cent in 2019, compared to 50 per cent in 2020. Companies with budgets over 500,000 leva were 40.4 per cent in 2019 and 34 per cent in 2020. The companies that do not have a set budget for automation increased by 3 per cent. RI/DT


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