The Robot Revolution <br>Begins Oct. 10. Are You Invested?

The real robot revolution begins Tuesday, Oct. 10. The catalyst will be U.S. Patent No. 9,785, 911.

This patent is being granted to Pittsburgh-area startup IAM Robotics for its Swift Solution Suite’s system and methods.

IAM also developed and will soon patent Swift, the world’s first autonomous, mobile, warehouse robot that’s designed to pick out products and put them where its owners want them to go.

Swift is a milestone for engineering, and a touchstone for workers.

For investors, this could be the opportunity of a generation.

 Industrial robots have become vital to manufacturing productivity. Giant mechanical arms spot weld, stamp metal and help workers move heavy materials precisely into position. In warehouses, pint-sized robots zip across concrete floors, carrying heavy racks of parts to help workers complete customer orders.

 Swift is an evolution. Workers are not required.

 It is part of a suite that includes IAM Flash, a 3-D item scanner, and SwiftLink, its fleet management software. Together, Swift can navigate unmodified settings, find items and place them into bins.

Living up to its name, Swift performs these tasks twice as fast as humans.

It is already operational at a New York drug wholesaler. In 2014, a proof-of-concept robot nicknamed Adam, began cruising the 19,000-square-foot warehouse at the Rochester Drug Cooperative. The system was operational within 24 hours.

Adam has evolved into Swift, a workhorse robot. It has a hot-swappable battery and the capability to work continuously for 10 hours, at a pace impossible for humans.

Speed is a big part of the robot revolution.

In 2016, Elon Musk, CEO at Tesla (TSLA), in a letter to shareholders, said automation would speed production from 1,500-vehicles-per-month to 20,000. More recently, he boasted its production-line speed could increase twentyfold as next-generation robots are implemented.

That rate of change will leave a mark on workers. Musk has talked repeatedly about widespread displacement as machines replace humans. It is a sentiment shared by many leading technology company CEOs.

Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group Holding Inc. (BABA), China’s biggest e-commerce company, recently told CNBC that automation will mean future workers might spend only 16 hours per week on the job. It will be a bonanza for the travel and hospitality industries, he predicts.

He also warned that getting there might be painful. Populism will rise, and governments will be under pressure to rework social safety nets, as the ranks of unemployed swell unimaginably.

Investors should be making plans right now.

IAM Robotics is a privately held company. But there are plenty of other ways  to invest in the next industrial revolution that’s already underway. Widely termed Industry 4.0, it includes automation, cloud and cognitive computing, and the Internet of Things. And it is going to be huge.

Boston Consulting Group, a leading industry researcher and consultancy, expects this to be a multitrillion-dollar opportunity. Every facet of manufacturing must adapt. The consultants’ Factory of the Future white paper forecasts these changes in great detail.

As the physical world becomes digital, every manufacturing and service process will transform. Future factory and warehouse floors will be about the collection of data. It will become the new currency for improving productivity.

For investment plays, keep an eye on semiconductors, which are the robots’ brains, as well as sensors and software. These stocks have performed exceptionally well.

Sensors collect data. And while the number of new collection points in the future will be many, the sector is populated by surprisingly few companies. They are sitting atop a gold mine.

They have scale. Their patent portfolios provide barriers to entry that will be difficult for newcomers to the field to tackle. And they are already profitable. The onslaught of new applications will bring an explosion of unit sales growth.

Swift is only the beginning. The time to invest is now. 

Best wishes,

Jon Markman

P.S. The 10th is one of three dates to circle on your calendar in October. You’ll also want to be ready for Oct. 31, when everything in the financial world is set to change. Dr. Martin Weiss and cycles expert Sean Brodrick will host a Q&A session on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. Eastern to explain how your savings, your retirement and your income may be affected. They will also show you how to use this sea change to your advantage. This live event is free to attend. Simply click this link to reserve your place, and bring your most pressing questions