Dobot targeting SME market
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Dobot targeting SME market

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Mr Liu said the robotics and automation system market in Thailand has high growth potential as the country is a key production base for many industries.
Mr Liu said the robotics and automation system market in Thailand has high growth potential as the country is a key production base for many industries.

Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are poised to become a new target market for Dobot, a China-based manufacturer of collaborative robots, which is introducing robots as a way to solve labour shortages in industries.

Dobot has partnered with SiS Distribution (Thailand), an IT distributor, to market Dobot's robotic technology in Thailand, the fourth country where the Shenzhen-based company has established a branch office after China, Germany and the US.

The robotics and automation system market in Thailand has high growth potential because the country is a key production base for many industries.

"This will stimulate demand for robots," said Jerry Liu, chief executive of Dobot.

Dobot aims to sell robots to SME clients, believing the technology will help them deal with labour shortages, reduce operating costs and working time as well as relieve their concerns over the state's daily minimum wage rise policy.

Local entrepreneurs utilising labour-intensive manufacturing in the food, shoe, steel and iron, and agricultural segments, are worried about labour shortages and the wage policy, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

The tripartite wage committee, which consists of representatives from the government, employers and employees, resolved to increase the minimum daily wage, which took effect on Jan 1.

The new minimum wages differ from province to province, with Chachoengsao, Phuket and Rayong as well as Surat Thani's Samui district seeing the wage rise to 400 baht per day.

Chachoengsao, Rayong and Chon Buri are within the Eastern Economic Corridor, a key industrial area in the country.

According to Dobot, 55% of its robots are sold to the industrial sector, followed by the commercial sector (15%), the education sector (15%) and sectors that require specific and technical knowledge such as the medical sector.

The company will initially import robots for sale in Thailand. Whether it will build a robot production facility in the country depends on the market and the availability of high-skilled labourers with a high level of technological know-how, said Mr Liu.

Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the FTI, said earlier that he expects factory operators to adopt more robotic and automation systems to replace workers in order to deal with an increase in operating costs and better compete with their rivals, particularly Chinese manufacturers who export low-cost products to the Thai market.

Thailand imported more than 3,600 robots for use in the industrial sector in 2023, said Somchai Sittichaisrichart, managing director of SiS Distribution, citing information published in the 2023 World Robotics report conducted by the International Federation of Robotics.

This reflects the country's progress in robotic technology adoption, which has led Thailand to rank 15th in the world and first in Southeast Asia in terms of the largest number of robot users.

Thailand is making use of robots and automation extensively in many industries such as automotive, food and beverages, electronics, metalworking, medical and cosmetics, plastics and polymers, and education and science to improve efficiency and productivity while reducing costs.

The use of robots to replace human labour is becoming more widespread around the world in both manufacturing and service sectors, as labour shortages become a pressing issue in ageing societies

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