## 3 Results  
The method was used to evaluate the maturity of 200 Polish manufacturing companies. The surveyed entities belonged to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and operated in diverse sectors. These sectors included food, chemicals, textiles and clothing, electronics, machinery, wood and furniture, packaging, household appliance manufacturing, and suppliers of components to the automotive industry. SMEs are the largest employers and contribute the most to EU development. However, their development needs help accessing capital, external funding sources, modern technology, innovation, and a highly skilled workforce. A disruptive factor is more familiarity with modern process management methods. In each case, the company has been classified into the described group based on fulfilling the following conditions: having less than 250 employees and an annual turnover of not less than EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet total of not more than EUR 43 million. The participants who responded were individuals with managerial or decision-making positions in investment planning, corporate digital vision, and strategy creation. During the survey, we identified the current level of maturity in a key area and defined a target state for the next three years. Table 8 summarizes the study on initial and target maturity levels for robotizing technological processes. According to the survey results, 66% of the respondents reported having no robots in their organization. Maturity level KA2-ML1 characterizes this lack of robotization. Only 14% of SME representatives are not planning any changes around industrial robot implementation, remaining deliberately at the first level of maturity. However, the group surveyed does not exclude entrepreneurs who own CNC and PLC-controlled machines. The absence of change is determined by the nature of the production process, which includes its inherent characteristics as follows:  
* Type of production--most often unit production with low production volumes (with a high degree of variability and customization) that require frequent development of new robot programs or modifications to existing ones;
* Lack of a consistent supplier who can provide production orders regularly;
* Difficulties in planning material supply and production due to the high variability in orders;
* Aspects related to the factories' locations--e.g., the need for local integrators and partner companies offering support in servicing the robots or employees with the right level of competence. According to the survey, 10% of the respondents plan to use manipulators in the coming three years. This indicates a shift from KA2-ML1 to KA2-ML2. These manipulators' applications include integration in automated assembly or machining stations. Such integration is dedicated to specific parts produced on a large scale for customers with long-term contracts. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Maturity Level**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Initial Maturity Level**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Target Maturity Level**} \\ \cline{3-4}  & & **Maintaining the Current Level** & **Moving to the Next Level** \\ \hline KA2-ML1 & 66\% & 14\% & - \\ KA2-ML2 & 8\% & - & 10\% \\ KA2-ML3 & 26\% & 18\% & 50\% \\ KA2-ML4 & - & - & 8\% \\ KA2-ML5 & - & - & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: Summary survey of the initial and target maturity levels in robotization of production processes. In total, 42% of respondents plan to upgrade to level three by integrating industrial robots or cobots. This exhibits well-structured production processes and seamless integration of machines with industrial robots. At maturity level KA2-ML2, it was determined that the utilization of manipulators was at 8%. Enterprises with manipulators declared they will no longer install these units in their factories. All those declared at this level indicated a planned transition to level three (KA2-ML3).