The demand for robots in the automotive industry is booming, and the operating inventory has reached 1 million units

Recently, the International Association of Robotics released a report showing that the number of robots operating inventory in the global automotive industry has reached a new record, reaching about 1 million units, accounting for about one-third of the total number of installations in all industries.

Among all industries, the automotive industry has the highest robot density. In 2021, the robot density of South Korea's automotive industry was as high as 2,867 units per 10,000 people, nearly three times the average level of the manufacturing industry; Germany ranked second with 1,500 units, followed by the United States with 1,457 units, and Japan ranked fourth with 1,422 units per 10,000 people.

China is the world's largest automobile manufacturer. The robot density in the automobile industry is 772 units, while the robot density in the manufacturing industry is 322 units. However, judging from the top few countries, there is still much room for improvement in the number of robots used in my country's automobile industry.

In recent years, the number of robots used in my country's automotive industry has also grown rapidly. In 2021, 61,598 units were installed, while only 119,405 units were installed worldwide that year, accounting for 52% of the market share. It is believed that China will be able to catch up in the next few years.

Application of robots in automobile manufacturing

Automobiles are the products of a highly integrated modern industry. Their manufacturing process can be divided into four parts: stamping, welding, spraying, and assembly, which are commonly known as the "four major processes" of automobile manufacturing.

As the name suggests, stamping is the process of pressing steel plates into the shape of a car body shell, including various frame parts and covering parts; welding is the process of connecting the various components to form the initial car body; spraying is the process of evenly covering the car body with paint, which not only prevents corrosion but also increases its aesthetics; the final assembly is the process of assembling various parts into a complete car.

Although it sounds easy, the actual manufacturing process is very complicated. A car has thousands of parts. For example, welding, just welding the entire car body, usually has thousands of welding points, and spraying not only needs to be sprayed evenly, but also has very high requirements on thickness. These processes are difficult to achieve with manpower, so they need to rely on robots. Nowadays, robots are used on a large scale in the three links of stamping, welding, and spraying. Because of the large number of parts, it is very difficult to fully automate the final assembly, but the proportion of robots used has been slowly increasing recently. For example, collaborative robots that can collaborate with humans are a very good choice.

There is no doubt that the benefits of using robots to manufacture cars are unquestionable. The standardized processes designed for robots due to their high speed, high precision, and stability are indispensable for industrial manufacturing. Moreover, the efficiency of robots, which can operate 24 hours a day, is completely incomparable to manual labor. Increasing the proportion of robot applications has always been a trend in the automotive manufacturing industry.

Nowadays, domestic and foreign automobile brands are working hard to increase the automation rate of their factories. There are even " dark factories " that are close to 100% smart factories. From raw materials to final products, all processing, transportation, and testing processes are completed in empty workshops without human intervention. The factory is completely handed over to machines, and because it can run with the lights off, it is named "dark factory."

In a "dark factory" displayed by SAIC-GM, various industrial robots perform their respective duties, such as stamping, welding, spraying, etc. They coordinate in an orderly and seamless manner, and show amazing skills. In the final assembly workshop, industrial robots can also find the corresponding parts for different models and transport them to the production line, realizing mixed production of multiple models. On average, one vehicle rolls off the production line every 76 seconds.

Opportunities brought by the development of new energy vehicles

The development speed of new energy vehicles in my country is beyond imagination. Data show that in 2022, my country's production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 7.058 million and 6.887 million respectively, year-on-year growth of 96.9% and 93.4% respectively, and the market share reached 25.6%, 12.1 percentage points higher than the previous year; in February this year, my country's production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 552,000 and 525,000 respectively, year-on-year growth of 48.8% and 55.9% respectively, and the market share reached 26.6%.

The transition from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles is undoubtedly a huge opportunity for the robotics industry. After all, in this transformation process, it is not just a change in the power system, but the entire production and manufacturing chain needs to be changed. Whether it is to update the old production model or to meet emerging manufacturing needs, there will be a huge demand for industrial robots.

Marina Bill, president of the International Federation of Robotics, also said that automated manufacturing has been effectively applied in the automotive industry. Today, robots play a vital role in promoting the automotive industry's transition from internal combustion engines to electric power. Robotic automation will help the automotive manufacturing industry to establish long-term large-scale changes in processes and technologies.

Not only China, but major countries around the world are increasing their investment in new energy vehicles. For example, the European Union has announced plans to end the sale of fuel-powered cars by 2035; the US government aims to achieve a 50% market share for electric vehicle sales by 2030, and by 2035, all new cars sold in China must be "new energy."

The accelerated development of new energy vehicles has not only directly increased the demand for robots, but also indirectly expanded the application of robots in other fields. The most obvious is the lithium battery industry. According to incomplete statistics, the planned production capacity of the entire lithium battery industry has exceeded 2TWh. Generally speaking, 1GWh requires 50-70 robots, which means a demand of at least 100,000 units. In fact, new energy vehicles have become the main driving force for the growth of robot sales, and in terms of the current penetration rate, there is still a lot of room for development in the future.