Every second robot is installed in China

 “The German industry association VDMA expects record sales for the local robotics and automation industry this year. However, China is causing concern - the country dominates the world market.

The local robotics and automation industry has left the corona crisis and chip shortage behind. This year, the industry association is assuming an increase in sales of 13 percent to 16.2 billion euros, which would correspond to an all-time high, the VDMA announced on Friday at the leading trade fair Automatica. It will take place in Munich from June 27th.

The association assumes that the previous record high from 2018 of 15.1 billion euros at the time will be exceeded this year. “The market situation is currently characterized by full order books. During the pandemic, providers built up large order backlogs, which are now being processed step by step as the bottlenecks in the supply chains ease," said Frank Konrad, VDMA chairman for the robotics sector, at a press conference. During the Corona crisis, sales did not decrease due to fewer orders, but above all due to the lack of chips. Robots could not have been delivered.

Germany is being overtaken by China

Automation and robotics are also increasing globally, as preliminary figures from the World Robot Association (IFR) show. According to this, around half a million robots were installed last year – about twice as many as in 2015.

This shows that China dominates the market. The robot density index indicates how many robots are installed in a country per 10,000 employees. According to this, China has already overtaken the USA in 2021 with 322 units. America counted only 274 pieces at that time.

And according to the industry association, Germany will also be overtaken by China this year and not only in the middle of the decade. Germany had 397 installed robots in 2021. "China is to be taken very seriously," said Patrick Schwarzkopf, VDMA Managing Director in the robotics sector.

  And further: "Roughly every second robot is installed in China," said the industry expert. It's huge what's happening in China, he said.

China has the need and is massively scaling robotics, said VDMA Chairman Konrad. And further: "There is a five-year plan there, the industry is politically promoted". China also has to cope with demographic change and is therefore pushing ahead with expansion. Technologically, Germany is not lagging behind, but it needs scaling.

In Germany it needs scaling

"In view of the new challenges, there is no time to rest in global competition," said Konrad. In view of the local aging society and the shortage of skilled workers, automation plays a key role in both the manufacturing and service sectors. "The robot as a job killer, we all have to work on getting the topic out of our heads," said Konrad. He warned: “We will not be able to maintain our prosperity in Germany without a broad introduction of robotics and automation in industry and medium-sized companies.” That is why the basic technologies in Germany must also be scaled up quickly.

Meanwhile, industry representatives are looking forward to the Automatica trade fair, which lasts until June 30, with confidence. More than 640 exhibitors have registered, including the relevant industry giants such as ABB, Kawasaki, Kuka and Sträubli. For the first time, the Google subsidiary Intrinsic will also be there.”

 

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"Regarding density levels for robots in the manufacturing industry, the global average of robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees is 126, while the Lithuanian average is around 20 industrial robots."