WRC 2016｜Chairman of the Russian Robotics Association: The scale, potential and possibilities of global industrial robots

Industrial robots have become a trend, and many countries have made the development of industrial robots, the liberation of labor, and the increase of production efficiency one of the future directions of technological development. So what is the current status of the industrial robot market in the world? What potential and possibilities does it have?

The WRC2016 World Robot Conference was held on October 20 at Beijing Yichuang International Exhibition Center. Today, the main forum of the conference officially started. At the main forum, the first speaker was Vitaly Nedelskiy, the founder and chairman of the Russian Robot Association. The Russian Robot Association was established a year ago and has received strong support from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. At the meeting, Vitaly Nedelskiy used a lot of data to briefly describe the current status of the industrial robot market and the future prospects of Sino-Russian industrial robot cooperation.

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Growth rate of global robot market

• The increase in the size of the global market:

From 2000 to 2015, the annual supply growth rate of industrial robots was about 12%. In 2015, the supply of industrial robots reached 254,000 units. The number of industrial robots in use worldwide increased by 11% by the end of 2015, reaching a total of 1.6 million units.

From 2010 to now, the annual growth rate of the industrial robot market is about 9%, and the global market value is about 11 billion US dollars. In 2015, the market size of robot systems was about 35 billion US dollars.

• Country and region status:

From 2011 to 2015, the supply of industrial robots in all regions has increased significantly. Asia remains the largest market, accounting for 60% of the global market.

From a national perspective, 75% of the supply of industrial robots from 2011 to 2015 came from China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Germany. The growth rate of China's market reached 17%, South Korea's was 50%, and Japan's was 20%.

In the report, Vitaly Nedelskiy highlighted the rapid development of China's industrial robot market.

In the past three years, the supply of industrial robots in China has grown at an astonishing rate. From 2014 to 2015, China's market increased by 70%. What is very interesting is that China's manufacturing industry has accounted for 20% of the market share in the past three years, which is a very amazing progress.

In 2015, the supply of industrial robots increased rapidly in Spain, Canada, Mexico and Russia, and also in Thailand, India, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.

South Korea has the highest robot density, with an average density of 69 per 10,000 people, while China's density is 49 per 10,000 people, which means that there is still great potential in China. In Russia, the density is very low, only one in 10,000, so in comparison, the market potential of industrial robots in Russia is also huge.

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Industrial Robot Industry Application

The main industry supplying industrial robots worldwide is the automotive sector, followed by the electrical and electronic industry. The application of industrial robots in these two fields is the main force driving the development of robots, and their growth rate in the application of industrial robots is also very fast.

In 2015, industrial robots played a very good role in promoting many manufacturing industries (including metal, machinery, automobile, rubber and plastic manufacturing industries). The growth rate of industrial robot applications in these industries and fields was also surprising, with the growth rate of metal and machinery being 30%, automobiles being 20%, and plastics and rubber being around 20%.

According to the shipment data of specific application scope from 2013 to 2015, the average growth rate of industrial robots engaged in manual processing and welding work is expected to be around 13% in the next few years, and it is estimated that 1.4 million industrial robots will be added to factories around the world next year.

It is estimated that by 2019, the number of industrial robots in use worldwide will increase from 1.6 million in 2015 to about 2.6 million, with an average annual growth rate of about 12%, which means an increase of several hundred thousand. Of course, the main trends include Industry 4.0, collaboration between humans and machines, mobile robots and mobile production, ultra-light robots, robots with integrated sensors and visual sensing, which will be more practical and cheaper in the future. The price drop will also encourage some small and medium-sized enterprises to start using robots, thus bringing about a virtuous circle.

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Sino-Russian cooperation and development of robotics

Vitaly Nedelskiy said in the report that last year, the supply of industrial robots in Russia was 550,000 units, and the application density is still relatively low. However, the Russian government has given great support to industrial robots, and even has some special projects to support the development of industrial robots. In addition, the technology of robot integration is also constantly improving. Many large Russian companies are preparing to apply robots in their production processes. Therefore, the development of industrial robots in Russia is very rapid, and the average growth rate in the next five years may be very fast, so that by 2020 it will increase to 10 times the current level.

In Russia, many shipyards, aviation machinery and helicopter manufacturers are preparing to use robots for manufacturing, including mining, nuclear power and other industries are using robots to make their manufacturing more modern. Vitaly Nedelskiy said that although the inventory of industrial robots in Russia is still relatively low, they have strong engineering capabilities to expand the use of robots, and the use of robots in different industries will increase further in the future.

Vitaly Nedelskiy said that in the field of industrial robots, China is the leader. According to data, China shipped 68,000 industrial robots last year, accounting for 26.7% of the world's industrial robot market share, with a density of 49 per 10,000 people. Vitaly said that in the field of industrial robots, there will be huge opportunities for Sino-Russian cooperation.

China has introduced advanced production technology into Russian production, cooperated in science and technology, R&D and education, and exchanged more on policies, markets and robotics technology, which will be conducive to the rapid development of Russian industrial robots. For China, it will also allow Chinese companies to participate in the Russian market and gain the benefits of huge growth potential. Vitaly said that in fact, Chinese companies have many opportunities in the Russian market, because the stock of robots here is very low and the growth rate is very high, and Russia will also be a good partner for China. The two countries can analyze and study a certain market segment, provide some legal support, and then help communicate with the government to help Chinese companies select local partners to solve some organizational problems, so as to better build and develop the market for industrial robots and popularize their application.