By 2020, more than 1.7 million new industrial robots will be installed at factories around the world. That's the prediction of the International Federation of Robotics, which set things out in a comprehensive report.
China to lead the way
The biggest growth in the robot industry is currently in Asia: China is the world leader in this field. Still this year, the number of robot installations in the Asian and Australian regions is expected to grow by 21 per cent. This compares with 16 per cent in America and 8 per cent in Europe.
Key drivers of this development: robot adaptation is a response to faster business cycles and the requirement to produce more flexibly when it comes to consumer demand. Certainly the new upcoming generation of industrial robots will enable flexible automation.
'Robots offer a high level of precision and their interconnections play an important role in the new digital manufacturing environments,' said Joe Gemma, president of the IFR on its website. 'Increasing availability is enabling more and more manufacturers of all sizes to automate.'
When it comes to the number of units, the IFR predicts that the global stock of operational industrial robots will increase to over 3 million units by 2020 (up from 1.8 million in 2016). This represents an average annual growth rate of 14 per cent between 2018 and 2020.
Smart factory
IFR believes that a factory where real-life is coupled with virtual reality will play a major role in the global manufacturing industry. Once barriers such as system complexities and the inability to exchange data are resolved soon, it will become increasingly easy for manufacturers to integrate robots into their factory network of machines and systems.
Are robots taking over?
Another company, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) researched robotisation with a different angle, namely to what extent robots will take over the work of human hands. The 'Workforce of the future' report lays out a timeline for the future in which it can be seen that the increasing number of robots will increasingly automate processes. Many physical workers will have to teach themselves other skills to avoid being left behind. Although only residents of China, India, Germany, Great Britain and the US were surveyed, the accounting and tax consultancy firm expects this to be a global trend.
Bill Gates said in an interview last year that people need three different skills to maintain a place in the computerised industry: engineering, science and economics.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: IFR + PwC
Photo: BMW
