The Robotics Industry Association reports that sales of industrial robot units declined by 30% in 2006. The revenue from robot sales fell 22%
The decline was due to the falloff in robot sales to automotive manufacturers. 2005 was a particularly good year for sales to the auto industry so demand was expected to slump.
The deliveries to non-automotive factories continues to increase year after year. Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of RIA states, “We saw very strong growth in industries such as beverages and tobacco, apparel, wood products, paper manufacturing, printing, machinery manufacturing, and furniture. We also saw growth in food and consumer goods, life sciences/pharmaceuticals/biomedical, and plastics and rubber.”
Totals for 2006 were:
North America Sales: 12,765 robots, $904.2 million
Total Sales: 13,791 robots, $958.4 million
2005 numbers
Non-Automotive Orders for Robots Rise in 2006, But Overall Sales Fall 30% in North America – Robotics Online
Tags:
Factories,
Industrial,
Manufacture,
Manufacturing,
Robo,
Robotic,
Robotics,
Robotics Industry,
Robotics Online,
Robots
Related posts
A vision software company, a robot maker, a university and possibly one of the world’s largest employers of robots, Toyota, are joining forces to bring the gift of sight to factory robots.
Their objective is to empower robots to recognize random parts in a bin and be able to pick what is needed.
The project is led by Braintech who already makes vision guidance software for factory robots. The robot hardware expertise will come from ABB and it will all be held together with research help from University of British Columbia Collaborative Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory.
There is also money coming from Precarn, a non-profit that helps new technology startups in Canada.
Owen Jones, CEO of Braintech describes their high expectations and ambitious schedule, “Our internal analysis projects a market size of over 450,000 systems, just for the automotive sector and worth approximately $1Billion in software revenues. With Precarn’s financial support and in collaboration with UBC, ABB and Toyota we expect to release our first commercial system by the end of 2007.”
Braintech Teams with ABB, Toyota, and University Of BC – Robotics Online
Tags:
Factory Robots,
First,
Manufacturing,
Robo,
Robotic,
Robotics,
Robotics Online,
Robots,
Star
Related posts
According to statistics released by Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the robot trade group, new orders received by North American based robotics companies fell 38% in the first half of 2006.
According to the article, a 52% reduction in automotive factory robot sales is due to a cyclical turn for auto factories. Record high investments in robots over the past few years and an overall slowdown in the auto industry are both factors in the declining rate of robot hiring.
On the other hand, sales of robots to non-automotive business was down by only 5%. This raises non-auto robots to almost half (45%) of the total sales of robots so far this year. This shows the growing penetration for robots into other areas of manufacturing outside the auto industry.
RIA estimates that 162,000 robots are now installed in US factories, second only to Japan in robot use.
For first half 2006 – 6607 robots worth $473.5 million have been ordered by US companies.
Robot Sales Fall 38% in North America – Robotics Online
Tags:
Factories,
First,
Manufacturing,
Robo,
Robotic,
Robotic Industries,
Robotic Industries Association,
Robotics,
Robotics Companies,
Robotics Online,
Robots
Related posts
