It was 1961. John F. Kennedy was just sworn into office, gas cost 27 cents per gallon, and the Unimate 1900 series became the first mass-produced robotic arm for factory automation.

Industrial robots have come a long way since George Devol and Joseph Engelberger first surfaced the idea in 1956. Today, over 1.8 million operational industrial robots exist worldwide, and experts anticipate this number to reach 3 million by 2020.

So, why are more and more businesses integrating automated machines into manufacturing processes? Below we make the case, with four reasons to consider using industrial robots in your warehouse operation.