Survey: 1.3 million industrial robots to enter service by 2018

International Federation of Robotics

 IFR press release

Survey: 1.3 million industrial robots to enter service by 2018 

Frankfurt, 25 February 2016 - The automation of the fourth industrial revolution is accelerating: By 2018, around 1.3 million industrial robots will be entering service in factories around the world. In the high-revenue automotive sector, global investments in industrial robots increased by a record-breaking 43 percent (2013-2014) within one year. Viewed on a cross-sector basis, the international market value for robotic systems now lies at around 32 billion US dollars. So says the 2015 World Robot Statistics, issued by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). 

The robotic density figure is a key performance indicator for gauging the current degree of automation within the international markets: For example, the average global robotic density in producing industries lies at 66  robot units per 10,000 employees. A total of 21 countries  have an above-average robotic density (Fig. 1). More than one-half of these highly automated countries are located in the European Union (14 countries). Then there are three Asian economies (South Korea, Japan, Taiwan), as well as the USA and Canada. 

The current global leader in industrial robotic automation is South Korea. In this instance, the robotic density exceeds the global average by a good seven-fold (478 units), followed by Japan (314 units) and Germany (292 units). At 164 units, the USA currently occupies seventh place in the world. 

At 36 units per 100,000 employees or about half the global average figure, China is currently in 28th place. Within the overall global statistics, this is roughly on a par with Portugal (42 units), or Indonesia (39 units). However, about five years ago, China embarked on a historically unparalleled game of catch-up aimed at changing the status quo, and already today it is the world's largest sales and growth market for industrial robots.  

Figure 1: Global robot density above average - European Union (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Finland, France, Austria, Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, United Kingdom), Asia (Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan), America (USA, Canada).

 

Never before have so many robot units been sold in one year as were sold in China in 2014 (57,100 units). The boom is continuing unabated in line with the forecasts: In 2018, China will account for more than one-third of the industrial robots installed worldwide. 

"The robotic boom is laying down an important milestone in the realisation of the fourth industrial revolution", says Joe Gemma, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "With their digital interfaces, industrial robots can be seamlessly integrated into the networked structures of smart factories. This is a benefit exploited by highly automated economies and by countries adopting a new industrial focus. Further impetus is coming into the form of the technological breakthrough in human-robot collaboration: Robotic workers will in future be found working hand-in-hand with human staff, helping to replace traditional, rigid production processes with flexible structures."

New Highs for Industrial Robotics in 2014 and the Future Looks Bright

Tuesday, October 27, 2015 - Blog, Media Center, Robot & Vision Trends

 

China Leads the Way As Purchaser But Still Trails Other Countries in Robot Density

The sales of industrial robotics reached a record high in 2014, up by 29% from the previous year, reaching 229 261 units. This increase represents more than twice the one observed between 2012 and 2013, which was 12%.

China confirmed its position as the most important purchaser of robots with 25% of the market. It is followed by Japan, the USA, South Korea and Germany. Those five countries represent 70% of the complete industrial robot sales.

China also had the biggest year-to-year change with a jump of 56%. Italy was also quite active with an increase of 32% compared to the previous year, and is still the second largest robot market in Europe after Germany.

As we can see with the following graph, China’s leading position as the biggest market of industrial robotics is increasing and this trend is expected to continue until 2018. It is also expected that South Korea will catch up Japan in three years.

Similarly, the automotive industry was by far the most important buyer of industrial robots, followed by the electrical and electronics industry. Together, both accounted for 64% of the sales as they respectively augmented their purchase by 43% and 34%. Metal processing, rubber & plastics and food also experienced serious growths.

Sales Volume is One Thing, What About Robot Density?

As we saw above, robot sales in China literally boomed in 2014 and it is expected to continue in the next few years. Even with those amazing numbers, the robot density in China is still quite low, reaching 36 per 10,000 workers in 2014, an increase of 57% compared to the density measures in 2013 (23 robots per 10,000 workers). This is still quite far from density observed in leading countries like South Korea, Japan and Germany as we can easily see with the following graph.

Those numbers are heavily influenced by the automotive industry, where the density is much higher than other industries. When considering specifically the automotive industry, Japan has the biggest density, followed by Germany and the USA. The picture is different if we look at the non-automotive industries. In this case, South Korea has the highest density, almost 4 times greater than the USA, followed by Japan and Germany. The following graph presents the numbers of the leading countries.

It is also interesting to compare the growth rate of the robot density of those countries.

One really interesting observation we can make is that all countries on which we have data had a larger increase of robot density in the non-automotive sectors comparded to the automotive sector. For us, this is a great indication that many other industries are adopting robotics in an increasing pace. Of course, their industrial robot purchasing volumes are still much lower than the automotive industry, but many opportunities are emerging. As an example, we see in the USA a solid trend in reshoring production previously located in low-cost countries, which is combined with increasing investments in robotics and automation.

Industrial Robotics: A Look at the Future

Our first graph shows an anticipated trend where China will continue its booming adoption of industrial robotics and could represent more than one third of the market by 2018. IFR estimates that a CAGR of 15% will be reached by 2018. Asia will lead with 18%, while the Americas and Europe will both have 10%. Worldwide, this means that the global sales should reach 400,000 units in 2018, an increase of 75% from today’s level. Optimistic? Maybe, but let’s keep in mind that the IFR’s projected sales of industrial robots for 2016 were actually reached in 2014 – two years ahead of projections.

To see more charts and detailed information: http://www.ifr.org/news/ifr-press-release/world-robotics-survey-industrial-robots-are-conquering-the-world-773/