If it seems like there are more robotics being used in manufacturing and industry today, that’s because there are.
According to new statistics released by the Robotics Industries Association, the North American robotics market is off to its fastest start ever in 2015. A record 14, 232 robots valued at more than $840 million were ordered by companies in the US, Canada and Mexico during the year’s first six months.
That smashes the previous record, which was set during the same period last year, by 1% in units and 7% in sales revenues, according to the report.
Electronics Leading the Pack
In the first half of 2015, many different industries invested heavily in robotics. Leading the pack were semiconductors (up 30%), automotive components (up 23%), and life sciences (up 8%). Perhaps not coincidentally, orders to original equipment manufacturers for cars fell 18% this year compared to the same period last year.
Key robot application segments this year have included coating/dispensing (up 35%) and material handling (up 27%), according to the report.
Alex Shikany, RIA’s director of market analysis, said in a news release that some of the growth can be attributed to the expansion of non-automotive industries, such as semiconductors, electronics, and life sciences. According to the research firm, approximately 232,000 robots are now being used in US factories, putting the US second only to Japan in the use of industrial robots.
Robots in Material Handling
The report comes on the heels of another recent study that predicted that the number of robots used in palletizing, logistics, packaging and materials handling would double in just the next five years.
That report — “Robots: Market Shares, Strategy and Forecasts Worldwide, 2014 to 2020″ — was compiled by the London-based WinterGreen Research after researchers interviewed 25 market leaders and more than 40 market participants.
Use of robotics is expected to grow so rapidly because industries are finally embracing the cost benefits of automation, according to the report.
As production of goods and services embrace process automation, logistics robots are being used to adapt conveyor belts, end of the line tasks, and loading to a flexible systems approach,” the researchers wrote in their report summary. “Process automation depends on the introduction of new logistics capability. Robots are set to bring a new industrial revolution more important than anything seen before.”
Susan Eustis, the report’s lead author, said new technologies are being introduced to the market every day.
“The opportunity to participate in industrial logistics robotic markets is compelling,” Eustis said. “This new market is evolving as new automated process based on breakthroughs and innovation in technology, optics, cameras, nanotechnology, new materials, thin film batteries, and sensors are among the technologies being put to use in innovative ways in robots. The ability to apply any technology from any company is phenomenal.”