Last year, it was a good year for the robot industry, and sales reached a record high.
A report released by the industry organization Robotics Industry Association on Tuesday showed that in 2016 North American companies ordered 35,000 robots, an increase of 10% from 2015. At the same time, last year's North American sales of orders also reached a record high of $1.9 billion, exceeding the record of $1.8 billion in 2015.
"We haven't seen this before," said Jeff Bernstein, CEO of the Robotics Industry Association.
In 2015, the automotive industry purchased more than 20,000 robots and components, which is the main driver of the industry's prosperity. The food and consumer goods industry, power, plastics industry and life sciences companies are also major customers.
Overall, last year's North American robot shipments were nearly 31,000 units. US companies have ordered 27,000 units, 2,700 units in Canada and 4,700 units in Mexico.
Bernstein explained that the robots responsible for placing and picking up items on the factory production line are the most popular. This is followed by a packaging robot, followed by a robot that cuts forged materials.
Bernstein said that although the price of robots has declined in recent years (or stimulated sales growth), the main reason for companies to purchase robots is competition from peers, speeding up production and increasing productivity. As technology advances, robots can more accurately determine where they are in the warehouse, avoiding harm to humans working together, and is an important reason for the industry's prosperity.
However, North America is not at the forefront of applied robotics. The Robotics Industry Association does not track the number of robot orders outside of North America, but Bernstein said, "China is the fastest in terms of applied robots," and European companies are also moving fast.
Bernstein also serves as a director of the International Robotics Association, another robotics industry organization that organizes orders and deliveries worldwide. However, the organization has not yet released data for 2016.
However, according to previous reports, China took the lead in 2015, with shipments of robots to the country amounting to 69,000 units, followed by Japan's 35,000 units and South Korea's 38,000 units.
Alex Schonney, director of market analysis at the Robotics Industry Association, said the association does not predict future shipments. But he said that in the past four years, the North American robot market has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 13%, and is expected to change little in the future.
However, Bernstein also reminded that the US robot market is closely related to automakers. Whenever the new model is introduced in the automotive industry, more robots and related equipment will be purchased.
“When the growth rate of the auto industry slows down, investment will also decline,†Bernstein said.
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