Adopting robots makes profits drop before they rise, study finds

As demand for industrial robots surges, new research suggests the rewards are slow to materialise. According to the Cambridge University study, robots typically cause early losses before they can yield a payoff. The researchers analysed industry data across 25 EU countries between 1996 and 2017. They found that when adoption levels are low, robots can have a negative effect on profit margins. As the uptake increases, however, automation drives the profits higher. This U-shaped effect was attributed to the integration process. At first, businesses using robots typically tend to focus on streamlining operations — an expensive and laborious task. But when automation…

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