The Idea of Robots as a Service Is No Longer Fiction

The Idea of Robots as a Service Is No Longer Fiction

Today’s complex, fast-paced economy calls for smarter robots to automate processes in order to keep up with production efforts. But often, the price of these machines has proved prohibitive for all but the largest corporations—that is, until now. There’s a new, smarter way to implement robotics: Robots as a Service (RaaS) allows companies to lease robots, rather than fronting the capital from the get-go to buy them.

Robotics providers like Vicarious have begun producing smart robots for rent, in order to accommodate smaller companies. Essentially, this works the same as software as a service (SaaS), but with industrial robots. This allows businesses of any size to benefit from robots, without large financial or time commitments.

Smart robots use new technology, and they can also use a new financial approach. 

Growing Demand for Smarter Robots

As robots become ever more advanced, businesses have increasingly sought to acquire devices with the most recent capabilities. For example, the newest industrial robots, using intelligent process automation, enable increased product personalization while cutting costs and increasing labor predictability. Demand is hot for these revolutionary offerings, which seem to be surpassing their own capabilities in a flash!

This same process of rapid innovation, however, has a side effect of obsoleting equipment, in some cases even before it has covered its cost. Considering the hefty price tag of industrial robots, buying robots upfront can be daunting for many businesses.

The difficulty of purchasing robots has intensified pressure for robotics firms to offer an alternative. Many small businesses find themselves unable to purchase robots, and even larger businesses often struggle to corral the funds. For all of the promise of robotics, it doesn’t offer much to those who can’t afford to buy-in.

The necessary capital expenditure is among the main obstacles to the greater adoption of smart robots in the industry. To use industrial robots, a business would need to spend a hefty sum even before seeing any return on investment, while bearing all of the risk. This might have made sense for older single-purpose machinery, but not so much for smart robots that regularly have to adapt to new tasks. In this case, companies can’t afford to wait for ROI.

Manufacturers increasingly want to automate complex, fast-evolving tasks. They may want to make one product on a given day, then another product on the next. They may even switch products multiple times throughout the day. Or conversely, a firm may want to automate processes that only run for a month each.

These adaptability goals require the latest and greatest robots, but that’s a moving target. Thus, companies find themselves pressured to buy equipment that they may have trouble paying for. In addition to the expensive robots themselves, companies pay for installation and service, training, repairs, and numerous other associated costs.

In response to this demand pressure, Vicarious now offers a new model as a solution: Robots as a Service (RaaS).

The Advantages of Renting Robots

Economic demands call for not only new technology but also a new business model. Buying robots are too expensive and slow. By the time an organization has set up their robots and started to earn back their expenses, the machinery is dated. The old business models don’t cut it when it comes to smart robots.

Renting eliminates the immense risks, capital requirements, and obsolete hardware that are inextricable from outright purchasing. Instead, opt to rent, and never worry about maintenance, hardware, or other issues.

Renting industrial robots eliminates risks and capital requirements while providing the newest equipment. 

Technology firms like Vicarious take on the risk and capital issues, managing the process effectively for clients. You don’t even have to consider capital expenditures, as there aren’t any, and new technical or financial developments no longer threaten the decision to deploy robots. Switch out for new robots as soon as they become available, without the sunk costs. With the RaaS model, you only pay for what robots deliver you. When the machines produce a unit for you, they earn their pay. With this model, you can securely consider whether to use robots in terms of merit, without having to stress over purchase conditions.

The modular nature of Vicarious’ RaaS devices allows them to evolve to meet your precise needs. You don’t have to hold off for another major revision or regret a past expenditure. Just switch out the parts for what you need.

Thanks to fluid artificial intelligence, your robots can respond to the needs of the moment. For the faster adjustments to customer trends that have become critical to remaining competitive, neural-powered hardware can figure out the best course of action.

Vicarious robots have far better reliability than average robots, with well under half the downtime. This is no accident. When you rent robots from a business whose incentives align with yours, the motivation to maintain robots in a cost-effective manner gives you a reliability advantage.

Rent Your Robots with Vicarious

Vicarious brings the technical and financial resources to the table for businesses of any size to get into the smart robotics game. Instead of finding yourself stuck with outdated equipment and immense sunk costs, you can simply end your contract, or upgrade to the latest.

By eliminating capital expenditure hurdles, Vicarious’ Robots as a Service model drastically decreases the price of your robotics investment, while retaining the same value as your needs change. You’ll see a return from the start, unlike with traditional models.

Vicarious can work with you to design, deploy, and support robots. It starts with an analysis of which processes the smart robots can automate, and expected costs and savings. If you subscribe, you’ll automatically receive the latest hardware and software replacements, along with guaranteed maintenance before and after any incidents. Take advantage of Robots as a Service—get started now!