Automation is commonly found in factories and on the production line where various tasks that require speed, endurance, and, more commonly, accuracy or precision must be performed at high-speed and volume.

The technologies include a wide range of robots and configurations, such as robotic palletizing systems, delta robots, collaborative robots (cobots), and articulated robots (e.g., robotic arms, SCARA robots).

As these robots continue to develop, many industries have started replacing the manual methods of their processes on the production line with robotic metrology systems. The transformation from manual to automated production, fueled by the use of computers and machine-learning, is changing the way companies manufacture products.

Production operations become more flexible, efficient, and accurate, and the increased accuracy of inspection and quality control proves to be extremely beneficial when complex, hard-to-reach, and manually-intensive applications are frequently performed.

Numerous industries have benefited: the aerospace and aviation industry has a faster way to accomplish highly-accurate, non-destructive testing; the automotive industry has a way to streamline inspection; the modern manufacturing industry (e.g., consumer goods) has a way to speed up picking and packaging; and the medical devices industry can perform 100% inspection of parts on the factory floor or directly on the production line.

Lastly, as sensor technology and vision systems improve, so does 3D inspection. Robotic automation coupled with the proper optical 3D laser sensors, scanners, trackers, or radars offers a number of benefits to production, saving companies time and money by catching manufacturing errors early in the process using real-time data acquisition, minimizing waste by avoiding the need to scrap thousands of parts.