FANUC's super robot factory will be put into production this year to seize the 100 billion market announced by Shanghai

According to reports, the FANUC super smart factory in Shanghai Robotics Industrial Park in Baoshan District has taken shape, the system workshop in the production logistics area has been basically completed, the individual buildings have entered the final stage, and industrial equipment has been installed... It is expected to be completed and put into production within the year.

It is understood that the FANUC Smart Factory Phase III project is a major construction project in Shanghai in 2020. It will be the largest robot base of FANUC Group in the world after Japan. After completion, the annual output value is expected to reach 10 billion yuan. The project is divided into two phases. The first phase is currently being implemented, with an investment of 1.58 billion yuan. The completion acceptance will be completed in July this year and it can be put into production in October.

FANUC's smart factory not only has advanced manufacturing functions, but can also provide world-leading smart manufacturing solutions for downstream application companies. It also has functions such as employee education and training, display of advanced smart manufacturing equipment, and sales. It is a high-end smart factory integrating R&D, manufacturing, and sales. It will drive the development of Shanghai's industrial robots to a new level and accelerate the development of China's advanced manufacturing industry.

Just last December, ABB's robot super factory in Shanghai was officially opened. The factory will be ABB's most advanced, most automated and most flexible robot factory in the world - capable of using robots to manufacture robots. It is revealed that the factory's annual production capacity can reach up to 100,000 units.

Previously, ABB stated that in the future, more than 90% of the products sold by the company in China will be produced in super factories, which will obviously greatly improve ABB's ability to supply industrial robots in China and further enhance its leading position in China's robotics and automation fields. Now that the FANUC robot base is about to be put into production, the two major factories have made up for the insufficient production capacity and will inevitably squeeze the market space for domestic industrial robots in the future.

Shanghai's powerful robotics industry

Shanghai has always been at the forefront of the country in developing the robotics industry. As early as 1987, the "Shanghai No. 1" welding robot was jointly developed by Shanghai Instrument Factory, Shanghai Jiaotong University and other units. It was the earliest industrial robot in China.

After years of development, Shanghai's robotics industry continues to grow, including the four major international industrial robot giants ABB, Yaskawa Electric, FANUC and KUKA have settled in Shanghai, and local robot companies such as Xinshida, Jieka, and Siasun have also taken advantage of the opportunity. In recent years, a number of excellent service robot companies have emerged, such as Fourier Intelligence, which focuses on rehabilitation robots, Qinglang Intelligence, which focuses on food delivery, and Gaoxian Robotics, which focuses on sanitation and cleaning robots.

Not long ago, nine departments including the Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Commission released the "Shanghai Intelligent Robot Benchmark Enterprise and Application Scenarios Recommended Catalog", the first batch of which included 41 corporate brands and 52 application scenarios, divided into seven typical scenarios: industrial intelligence, medical health, construction services, agricultural services, public services, household services, and special emergency.

In the next step, the second and third batches of catalogues will be launched, and information channels will be built to connect robot companies and user units. A number of replicable and referenceable development results will be promoted and applied. Publicity and promotion will be carried out around the catalogues, market connection will be encouraged, and enterprise growth will be supported.

Data shows that in 2021, Shanghai's industrial robot production exceeded 70,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 34%; in 2022, under the severe impact of the epidemic, Shanghai's annual output of industrial robots is expected to reach more than 75,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 6%, ranking first among domestic cities in output.

At the same time, 2022 is also a year of explosive development for Shanghai's service robot industry, with many companies' products successfully landing in the fields of medical care, construction, agriculture, commerce, household, emergency, etc. According to data from the Pudong Science and Technology and Economic Commission, the scale of China's service robot market will reach 10 billion US dollars in 2024, and a large part of it must come from Shanghai companies.

The scale of Shanghai's robot industry will reach 100 billion by 2025

In recent years, in order to support the development of the robotics industry, the Shanghai government has promulgated a series of policies, including "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development and Application of Robots in Shanghai to Promote Industrial Transformation and Improve Quality and Efficiency", "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Development of a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence in the City", "Shanghai Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Intelligent Terminal Industry", and "Shanghai's 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Digital Economy", etc., to support the Shanghai robotics industry in terms of technology research and development, application scenarios, business models, and financial services.

Not long ago, the Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Commission stated that by 2025, Shanghai will strive to build 10 industry-leading robot brands, 100 benchmark demonstration robot application scenarios, and a robot-related industry scale of 100 billion yuan.

Focusing on the above goals, Shanghai will take the lead in carrying out three key actions in the future, including industrial intelligence enhancement action, service scenario expansion action, and cluster ecology optimization action, to support the innovative development of the robotics industry.

Focusing on the action of improving industrial intelligence, Shanghai is comprehensively promoting the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and implementing the smart factory pilot action plan. It has built 3 national benchmark smart factories, 10 municipal benchmark smart factories and 100 municipal smart factories.

It is reported that in the next three years, Shanghai will focus on six key industries such as automobiles and high-end equipment, and promote the intelligent manufacturing transformation of industrial enterprises by "one industry, one policy" and "grading and classification". It will build a total of 20 municipal benchmark smart factories and 200 municipal smart factories, which will drive the application of industrial robots to increase by 20,000 units and increase the density of industrial robots by another 100 units per 10,000 people.

To carry out service scenario expansion actions, in the next three years, Shanghai will focus on key areas such as medical care, construction, agriculture, commerce, household, and emergency response to promote the large-scale application of service robots.