This rising trend of automation on factory floors is a continuation of the global automation boom, which began in 2009.
Since then, sales figures for industrial robots have increased almost four-fold. These positive figures and the global surge of industrial robots, observed the IFR, were driven by highly automated emerging countries, and by regions that are already highly developed economically. The IFR also predicted in its 2016 World Robotics Statistics that by 2018, some 2.3 million units will be deployed on factory floors, more than twice as many in 2009 at 1 million. In Europe, the total sales figures for industrial robots in 2015 rose by 10 percent to 50,000 units, compared to the previous year. The strongest individual markets in Europe are Germany (20,000 units), Italy (6,700 units) and Spain (3,800 units).
Growth in the Americas proved to be more dynamic, with sale figures increasing by 15 percent to a total of 37,000 units. The US heads the list with 27,000 units sold, while Mexico saw sales more than doubled to 5,500 units. The reason underlying this development is the investments made in the automotive industry, the products of which Mexico exports to the USA and South America.
Asia, however, is still the world’s strongest growth market. This region saw a total of 156,000 units sold in 2015 – a rise of 16 percent. With some 68,000 industrial robots sold, China alone surpassed the total market volume for Europe. Growth in China was at 17 percent.
Foreign-based robotic manufacturers hold a 69-percent market share in terms of profits, with domestic competitors taking a 31-percent of the pie.
Elsewhere in Asia, the robotics market in South Korea and Japan continue to occupy second and third places in global sales behind China with 37,000 units and 35,000 units respectively.
The top five countries in industrial robot sales are China, South Korea, Japan, the US and Germany. These five countries account for three-quarters of the global sales of industrial robots.
In sector terms, the automotive industry holds the lead in automation using industrial robots. During 2015, a rise of one percent saw some 95,000 units sold in this segment. The sectors that posted the strongest growth in 2015 were the metal industry at 63 percent growth, the plastics and rubber industry at 40 percent growth and the electronics industry, which saw a rise of 16 percent.
“The wave of digital transformation and automation will continue to drive the robotics boom forward until 2018,” said Joe Gemma, president of the IFR. “Revolutionary developments in IT connected with all aspects of the Internet of Things, and new networked services are changing the producing industries fundamentally.
Machines, logistics and production plants are merging into integrated cyber-physical systems. The aim is to use smart factories to work more flexibly, more cost-efficiently and more productively.”
