Researchers, manufacturers and automation specialists analyse how mobile robotics, artificial intelligence and new communication infrastructures are transforming industry and redefining the relationship between people and machines.
Industrial automation is going through one of its most transformative periods in decades. Falling technology costs, the development of artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity and growing pressure to improve productivity are accelerating the deployment of mobile robots in factories, warehouses and logistics centres. More than a technological trend, robotics has become a decisive factor in keeping organisations competitive.
Daniel Rial, Sales Director at Movvo Robotics, sums up this evolution with a statement that reflects the change the sector has undergone over the last decade: “Ten years ago, mobile robotics was innovation. Now it is a necessity.” In his view, greater competition, pressure on costs and the need to reduce delivery times have driven adoption that doubled between 2015 and 2025.
This perception is shared by Álex Domínguez, Automation Sales Manager at STILL Iberia, who notes a profound change in business mindset. “Companies used to ask whether they needed it; today the question is how we implement it.”
Increasingly autonomous and collaborative robots
The evolution of industrial robotics is measured not only by the number of installations, but also by the level of autonomy these systems have achieved.
Andrés Meseguer, R&D researcher at ITI involved in the Cognibot project, explains that the sector has evolved from robots guided by physical infrastructure to solutions capable of moving and making decisions with an increasing degree of autonomy. “We are bringing the robot closer to humans, so that they work together in shared spaces,” he says.
Meseguer also highlights that Spain currently ranks third in installed robotic infrastructure within the European Union, behind only Germany and Italy. In this context, the Cognibot project is working on new communication and computing infrastructures that integrate “private 5G, distributed computing and Artificial Intelligence to improve the reliability, automation and adaptability of industrial processes that were not viable years ago.”
Automating to remain competitive
Automation no longer responds solely to a desire to innovate. For many companies it is a necessity arising from an increasingly competitive environment.
Daniel Rial believes that postponing this decision for too long can have significant consequences. “The most likely outcome is a competitiveness problem,” he says, referring to organisations that delay their transformation over the coming years.
Joan Vendrell, Automation Sales at Toyota Material Handling, agrees that automation will end up being a practically inevitable decision. “If you see the other companies in your sector moving towards automation, you will fall behind unless you invest too,” he points out. However, he insists that each project must start with a prior analysis to identify which processes will deliver the greatest return before making any investment.
For Andrés Meseguer, the first step is precisely to identify each organisation’s bottlenecks. “What is mandatory is being more competitive,” he sums up. Only on the basis of that diagnosis, he explains, does it make sense to incorporate technologies that optimise production processes.
A technology expanding into new sectors
Although mobile robotics was initially deployed mainly in industrial environments, its scope of application continues to grow.
Andrés Meseguer identifies sectors such as logistics, agriculture, mining and even hospitality as some of the most dynamic. “I myself have been served pizza by a robot,” he remarks to illustrate how far this technology has begun to integrate into everyday activities. In his view, all these sectors share a common element: a high need for internal transport and processes where the return on investment is easy to quantify.
Daniel Rial places the automotive industry, pharmaceuticals and large logistics centres among the main drivers of this transformation, characterised by high volumes of internal movements and particularly demanding production cycles.
Álex Domínguez also points to automotive, logistics and the consumer goods industry as the areas where automation has the greatest impact. These are, he explains, highly repetitive processes that are automated “to give them consistency and stability and to sustain the balance of the business.”
Joan Vendrell adds an emerging sector: airports, where internal transport processes offer enormous potential for the deployment of mobile robots.
The challenge is also regulatory
Technology is advancing at great speed, but its deployment still faces obstacles that are not always technical.
Daniel Rial believes that one of the main barriers in Spain is the lack of a clear framework for deploying autonomous systems. “There is a bureaucratic issue about who takes charge of these autonomous robots,” he explains, referring to the difficulty of determining responsibilities and financing models. While countries such as Germany and Japan are strongly committed to these technologies, he believes Spain must move forward so as not to lose competitiveness.
Much more than productivity
Improving productivity remains one of the main arguments for automating industrial processes, but it is far from the only one.
Joan Vendrell highlights robots’ ability to maintain constant performance. “Machines work 24/7, without breaks or holidays,” he points out.
Álex Domínguez emphasises safety, resilience and process stability. “They may look slow, but they are very productive because they never stop,” he explains.
At ITI, Andrés Meseguer sees safety as one of the greatest benefits of automation. As an example, he cites the introduction of industrial exoskeletons that make it possible to handle heavy loads while reducing the risk of injury to workers. He adds another growing advantage: traceability. “It allows data to be integrated with internal planning systems and helps with analysis work.”
Daniel Rial shares this view and highlights how automation eliminates errors arising from manual processes and improves material tracking throughout the logistics chain. He also recalls the case of a food-sector company that, after deploying mobile robots, discovered efficiency levels far higher than it had initially estimated.
People and robots, a model of collaboration
Far from a scenario of mass job replacement, the evolution of industrial robotics points towards a model of collaboration between people and machines.
Joan Vendrell believes that robots will progressively take on the most repetitive, lowest value-added tasks, allowing professionals to move into supervision, control and management roles. “Jobs are going to change, just as they did with the industrial revolution,” he says.
Industrial automation is thus moving towards a model in which artificial intelligence, mobile robotics and connectivity will act as tools to increase safety, improve traceability and raise productivity. Rather than replacing people, the goal is to redefine the way they work, integrating human and technological capabilities to build more efficient, flexible and competitive industrial processes.