The World Robotics Report 2016, recently released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), forecasts that compact, user-friendly collaborative robots will be a key driver in the automation market.
The report predicts the worldwide annual sales of industrial robots to increase by at least 13% on average per year from 2017-2019. It is expected that human-robot collaboration or "cobot" will have a breakthrough during this period, enabling robots and humans to work safely side-by-side, while increasing production efficiency and quality.
"As the market leader of the cobot industry, automation and robot company Universal Robots welcomes the report, which confirms the validity of its mission: lowering barriers and enabling automation in areas previously considered too complex or costly," said the company's chief commercial officer Daniel Friis.
"Our installed base of more than 10,000 cobots worldwide illustrates the dramatic growth potential of this game-changing automation technology. We enable small and medium-sized enterprises to optimise their competitiveness on the global stage with an industry leading payback period."
Industries predicted by the federation to adopt cobots at an increasing rate include automotive, the plastics industry, electronics assembly and the machine tool industry. These are all key sectors in Southeast Asia, and where Universal Robots is seeing strong traction. "Universal Robots are now increasingly deployed on the auto assembly line, working hand-in-hand with employees, by relieving them of ergonomically unfavourable tasks. We have recent case studies documenting how cobots quadrupled injection moulding production, and how our new UR3 tabletop robot is now a sought-after automation tool for light assembly, such as circuit board handling," said Friis.
In Asia, strong, continued robot growth is forecast by the IFR, with the recent report suggesting a rise of 18% in robot supplies this year, while installations are expected to rise by 15%. China is predicted to remain the main driver of robot growth, expanding its dominance with almost 40% of the global robot supply being installed in China by 2019.
According to Friis, the demand for consumer goods across global markets is pushing manufacturers to produce innovative, high-quality products more quickly, consistently and sustainably around the world.
"To support the growing demand for flexible cobot solutions, Universal Robots recently launched Universal Robots+, an online showroom for end-effectors, software, peripherals and accessories," said Friis.
Complementing Universal Robots+, is the new UR Academy, which includes free e-learning modules available to all that make up the basic programming training for UR robots. Universal Robots expects the initiative to help support Industry 4.0.
"It's unprecedented in the industry to provide hands-on interactive teaching modules available for free with no licensing required. The academy offers an instrumental tool in helping us educate the market on how our technology can address key business challenges. As Southeast Asia gears up to be the world's manufacturing hub, educating future operators and programmers now to bridge this gap becomes even more important," said Friis.
