recovery, but it may take until 2022 or 2023 to reach the
pre-crisis level of sales.”
The adoption of human-robot collaboration (cobots) is
on the rise, the latest report says. Cobot installations
grew by 11%, with that dynamic sales performance in
contrast to the overall trend for traditional industrial
robots in 2019. As more and more suppliers offer
collaborative robots and the range of applications
becomes broader, the market share reached 4.8% of the
total of 373,000 industrial robots installed in 2019. That
said, although this market is growing rapidly, it is still in
its infancy, the IFR offers. (Listen to Machinery’s cobot
podcasts with Universal Robots to learn more about
cobots – www.machinery.co.uk/machinery-podcasts .)
Globally, Covid-19 has a strong impact on 2020 – but
also offers a chance for modernisation and digitalisation
of production on the way to recovery, says the robot
organisation. In the long run, the bene ts of increasing
robot installations remain the same: rapid production
and delivery of customised products at competitive
prices being the main incentives. Automation enables
manufacturers to keep production in developed
economies – or reshore it – without sacri cing cost
ef ciency. The range of industrial robots continues to
expand – from traditional caged robots capable of
handling all payloads quickly and precisely to new
collaborative robots that work safely alongside humans,
fully integrated into workbenches.
AROUND THE WORLD
Fully 73% of robot installations are in ve countries –
China, Japan, USA, South Korea and Germany. Asia
remains the strongest market for industrial robots –
operational stock for the region´s largest adopter, China,
rose by 21% and reached about 783,000 units last year.
Japan ranks second with about 355,000 units – up
12%. A runner-up is India with a new record of about
26,300 units – up 15%. Within ve years, India has
doubled the number of industrial robots operating.
Europe reached an operational stock of 580,000
units in 2019 – up 7%. Germany remains the main user
with an operational stock of about 221,500 units – this
is about three times Italy’s number (74,400 units), ve
times that of France (42,000 units) and about 10 times
the stock of the UK (21,700 units).
The USA is the largest industrial robot user in the
Americas, reaching a new operational stock record of
about 293,200 units – up 7%. Mexico is second with
40,300 units, which is a growth of 11%, followed by
Canada with about 28,600 units – up 2%. South
America´s number one operational stock is in Brazil,
with almost 15,300 units.
The industrial use of robots sees a global density of
113 robots/10,000 employees. The top ve countries
are: Singapore (918); South Korea (855); Japan (364);
LEAD FEATURE AUTOMATION & SMART THINKING ON THE INCREASE
Below: DMG Mori
has automated
machine assembly
in Germany,
offering the
resulting benefi ts
to customers in
the form of
reduced machine
cost and higher
specifi cation, p13
Germany (346); and Sweden (277). Sweden is the
country that FANUC’s Tom Bouchier (see also p13) has
previously suggested the UK could aspire to become
like; currently the UK’s per 10,000 manufacturing
employee gure is around 91 – not even close to the
average in Europe of 114/10,000 manufacturing
employees.
The IFR says that by 2022, an operational stock of
almost four million industrial robots is expected to be
working in factories worldwide. Increasing use of robots
is driving demand for skilled workers and educational
systems must effectively adjust to this demand, it adds.
Says organisation president Guerry: “Governments
and companies around the globe now need to focus on
providing the right skills necessary to work with robots
and intelligent automation systems. This is important to
take maximum advantage of the opportunities that these
technologies offer. The post-Coronavirus recovery will
further accelerate the deployment of robotics. Policies
and strategies are important to help workforces make
the transition to a more automated economy.”
Saadia Zahidi, head of education, gender and
employment initiatives at the World Economic Forum,
offers this: “Very few countries are taking the bull by the
horns, when it comes to adapting education systems for
the age of automation. Those that are have long had a
clear focus on human capital development. Countries in
northern Europe, as well as Singapore, are probably
running some of the most useful experiments for the
future world of work.”
According to the ‘automation readiness index’
published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), only
four countries have established mature education
policies to deal with the challenges of an automated
economy. South Korea is the category leader, followed by
Estonia, Singapore and Germany. Countries like Japan,
the US and France are developed, while China was
ranked as emerging. The UK is not namechecked.
‘House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy Committee – Automation and the future of work’,
published in September 2019 ( www.is.gd/qadika ),
concluded that the UK needs a robot strategy
Case studies, industry & product news, p12
www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets | November 2020 11
phonlamaiphoto/stock.adobe.com
/machinery-podcasts
/qadika
/www.machinery.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com