Industry overview
What is shaping industrial robots & automation
Industrial automation and robotics are moving from large plants to mid-sized manufacturers. Adoption depends on clear payback, integrator support and confidence in the technology.
- Plant heads need a clear business case before investing
- System integrators are central to successful adoption
- Skills gaps slow down deployment
Client background
A skills and labour research foundation, working in Automotive and electronics clusters. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A skills and labour research foundation
- Sector
- Industrial robots & automation
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Government research
Client challenge
The foundation wanted evidence on how automation affected jobs, skills and wages in factories that had introduced robots, to inform skills policy. Public debate was dominated by fears of job losses, but there was little ground-level evidence from Indian factories.
Research objectives
- Answer the core question: how automation changes jobs on the factory floor.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of employers.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 10 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 200 employers.
- employers200
Audiences we typically reach in industrial robots & automation
Plant heads and ownersProduction engineersSystem integratorsAutomation distributorsMaintenance teams
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Automotive and electronics clusters. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Worker and manager interviews
- 3Employer survey
- 4Insight
We interviewed workers, supervisors and HR managers at factories that had automated processes, and surveyed employers about job changes, training and new roles created. Interviews with workers were held away from the workplace and in their own languages, so they could speak freely about how their jobs had changed.
Qualitative researchQuantitative researchGovernment research
Sampling strategy
- employers
- 200
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- interviews
- 60
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Automation reduced some manual roles but created demand for operators, maintenance technicians and programmers.
Training determined whether automation helped or hurt workers.
Recommendations
- The foundation recommended employer-linked reskilling programmes.
- Several participating employers also agreed to share data on training and redeployment, helping the foundation build practical case examples for policymakers.
What we recommended, and the client put into practice
Business impact
- Workers who received training moved into better-paid roles.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Evaluation findings with programme recommendations
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how large is the addressable market?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.