INDIA – industrial robot sales surged

• Automotive +27 percent
• General Industry +46 percent

Sales of industrial robots in India reached a new record of 3,412 new units installed in 2017. That is an increase of 30 percent compared to the previous year (2016: 2,627 units). Between 2012 and 2017 India saw a compound annual sales growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent. These are the initial findings of the World Robotics Report 2018, published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Broken down by industry, India´s automotive sector is the main end user with a share of  62 percent of the total supply in 2017. Sales rose by 27 percent compared to the previous year.

India´s automotive industry announces expansion
“The automotive industry will remain the main driver of the increasing number of robot installations in India,” says Junji Tsuda, president of the International Federation of Robotics. “Numerous new projects have been announced by international and domestic car manufacturers striving to expand production capacities. Moreover, OEMs increasingly require local supply of automotive parts.”
 

 
General industry is catching up
A clear sign that the general industry is catching up with the automotive sector can be seen by the sales numbers of industrial robots in e.g. the plastics and rubber industry, the metal industry and the electrical and electronics industry, which increased by 46 percent in 2017.

“The general industry will further invest in production capacities and modernization to serve this growing consumer market,” says IFR President Junji Tsuda. “Consequently, further acceleration of the growth in robot sales is expected between 2018 and 2021.”

India´s robot success story started in 2009 – robot density still low
India is one of the strongest growing economies among emerging Asian markets. Since 2009, the number of robot installations has been growing rapidly. In 2017, India ranked No. 14 in terms of the global annual supply, immediately behind Thailand and Spain. As far as the operational stock is concerned, India ranked thirteenth after Canada, Spain and Singapore. 

India´s automation potential is best illustrated by it’s rather low robot density figure: 85 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in the automotive industry is less than a quarter of that in Indonesia (378 units) and far away from China (505 units).

The automation of production is accelerating around the world: 74 robot units per 10,000 employees is the new average of global robot density in the manufacturing industries (2015: 66 units). By regions, the average robot density in Europe is 99 units, in the Americas 84 and in Asia 63 units.

The top 10 most automated countries in the world are: South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, USA, Italy, Belgium and Taiwan. This is according to the 2017 World Robot Statistics, issued by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

“Robot density is an excellent standard for comparison in order to take into account the differences in the automation degree of the manufacturing industry in various countries,” says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “As a result of the high volume of robot installations in Asia in recent years, the region has the highest growth rate. Between 2010 and 2016, the average annual growth rate of robot density in Asia was 9 percent,in the Americas 7 percent and in Europe 5 percent.”

Asia
The development of robot density in China was the most dynamic in the world. Due to the significant growth of robot installations, particularly between 2013 and 2016, the density rate rose from 25 units in 2013 to 68 units in 2016. Today, China’s robot density ranks 23 worldwide. And the government intends to forge ahead and make it into the world’s top 10 most intensively automated nations by 2020. By then, its robot density is targeted to rise to 150 units.

Furthermore, the aim is to sell a total of 100,000 domestically produced industrial robots by 2020 (2017: 27,000 units from Chinese robot suppliers, 60,000 from foreign robot suppliers).

Worldwide, the Republic of Korea has by far the highest robot density in the manufacturing industry – a position the country has held since 2010. The country’s robot density exceeds the global average by a good eight-fold (631 units). This high growth rate is the result of continued installations of a high volume of robots particularly in the electrical/electronics industry and in the automotive industry.

Singapore follows in second place with a rate of 488 robots per 10,000 employees in 2016.
About 90 percent of robots are installed in the electronics industry in Singapore.

Japan ranked fourth in the world: In 2016, 303 robots were installed per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry – following Germany ranking 3rd (309 units). Japan is the world´s predominant industrial robot manufacturer: The production capacity of Japanese suppliers reached 153,000 units in 2016 – the highest level ever recorded. Today, Japan´s manufacturers deliver 52 percent of the global supply.

North America
Robot density in the United States increased significantly to 189 robots in 2016 – the country ranks seventh in the world. Since 2010, the necessary modernization of domestic production facilities has boosted robot sales in the United States. The main driver of this growth was the ongoing trend to automate production in order to strengthen American industries on the global market and to keep manufacturing at home, and in some cases, to bring back manufacturing that had previously been sent overseas. The automotive industry still leads as the main customer of industrial robots with about 52 percent of total sales in 2016. Robot sales in the United States will continue to increase between 2017 and 2020 by at least 15 percent onaverage per year.

Robot density in Canada has been on the rise and reached 145 units in 2016 (ranking 13 worldwide). Growth was mainly driven by installations in the automotive industry.

Mexico is predominantly a production hub for car manufacturers and automotive parts suppliers that export to the United States and increasingly to South America. The automotive industry in Mexico is by far the main robot customer with a share of 81 percent in 2016. Robot density is at 33 units, which is still far below the world average of 74 units, ranking 31st  on the global scale.

Europe
Europe´s most automated country is Germany – ranking 3 rd  worldwide with 309 units. The annual supply and the operational stock of industrial robots in 2016 had a share of 36 percent and 41 percent respectively of total robot sales in Europe. Between 2018 and 2020, the annual supply in Germany will continue to grow by at least 5 percent on average per year due to the increasing demand for robots in the general industry and in the automotive industry.

France has a robot density of 132 units (ranking 18 th  in the world), which is well above the global average of 74 robots – but relatively weak compared to other EU countries. EU members like Sweden (223 units), Denmark (211 units), Italy (185 units) and Spain (160 units) enjoy a much higher degree of automation using industrial robots in the manufacturing segment. But under the new government, France is in the process of regaining competitiveness in its manufacturing sectors. This may, to a certain extent, promote installations of new robots in the next few years. In 2017, the number of robot installations in France is expected to increase by about 10 percent. Between 2018 and 2020, an average annual growth rate between 5 and 10 percent is likely.

As the only G7 country – the UK has a robot density below the world average of 74 units with 71 units, ranking 22nd. The general industry is highly in need of necessary investment in order to modernize and increase productivity. The low robot density rate  is indicative of this fact. Despite the decision to leave the EU, there are currently many suggested investment plans for capacity expansion and modernization of foreign and local automotive companies. It is not evident though whether companies will hold back investments due to uncertainties concerning customs duties.

The eastern European countries Slovenia (137 units, ranking 16th  in the world) and Slovakia (135 units, ranking 17th  worldwide), both have a robot density that is above Switzerland’s (128 units, ranking 19th in the world). The Czech Republic is ranking 20th  on the global scale with 101 units. Robot supplies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia mainly depend on the automotive industry’s demand. Slovenia is the most successful among the Balkan countries with 60 percent of the total robot supply used mainly for the automotive industry (387 units, 33 percent more than in 2015).

Japan exported a total of nearly 115,000 industrial robots – value of about US$ 2.7 billion.

Japan is the world´s predominant industrial robot manufacturer: The production capacity of the Japanese suppliers has reached 153,000 units in 2016 – the highest level ever recorded. Today, Japan´s manufacturers deliver 52 percent of the global supply. These are results published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) ahead of the International Robot Exhibition (iREX) in Tokyo – November 29th – December 2nd 2017.

“Japan is a highly robotized country where even robots are assembled by robots”, said Joe Gemma, President of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). “The statistics show that automation strongly boosts exports and  domestic investments as well  – robot sales in Japan increased by 10 percent to about 39,000 units in 2016 – reaching the highest level in the last ten years.”

Japan´s high export rate
Japan exported a total of nearly 115,000 industrial robots in 2016 with a value of 309 billion yen (about US$ 2.7 billion). This is by far the highest export volume for one year. The export rate increased from 72 percent to 75 percent (2011-2016). North America, China, the Republic of Korea and Europe were target export destinations. The Japanese imports of robots were extremely low, only about 1 percent of installations. Thus, foreign robot suppliers did not achieve a high sales volume in Japan. The home market has strongly recovered since the financial crisis in 2009 and reached 39,000 units, the highest level since 2006 (37,000 units).

Car- and electrical/electronics industry dominate
The automotive industry is the largest destination market for industrial robots in Japan with a share of 36 percent of the total supply.
Car manufacturers bought 48 percent more industrial robots than in 2015 (2016: 5,711 units). Japanese car suppliers are leading in the production of hybrid cars and will increase investments in automated driving technologies. The development of new materials which reduce weight and save energy will also foster investments in robot automation. However, the ongoing reduction of production capacities in Japan will impact domestic demand for robots. Investments abroad, on the other hand, will continue to increase. The Japanese car companies have been increasingly expanding production facilities overseas, particularly in China, as well as other Asian countries and in the United States and Mexico.

After the strong growth of robots in the electrical/electronics industry in 2015 (11,659 units), a decrease of 7 percent followed in 2016. However, the electrical/electronics industry has preferred to invest in production facilities abroad. Furthermore, continued investments in robots can be expected in this sector with the increasing demand for chips, displays, sensors, batteries and other technologies around electro mobility, and industry 4.0 (connected industries).

The two most important customer groups of industrial robots in Japan – automotive and electrical/electronics – had jointly, a share of 64 percent of the total supply in 2016. Robot sales to both sectors increased by 8 percent in 2016. In all other branches, as a whole, the market increased by 14 percent.